South Coast

We're expecting a gradual change to warmer and wetter weather but it could take a while to significantly impact this region.

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

Friday: Cloudy with showers, flurries, or freezing rain depending on elevation (trace to 5mm). The freezing level is around 1000 m but an above freezing layer is likely near 2000 m. Ridge winds are 10-25 km/h from the S-SW. Saturday: Much the same as Friday but winds increase to 30-50 km/h from the southwest. Sunday: Probably a drier day. The freezing level rises or the above freezing layer deepens. Winds are moderate from the south.

No new reports of avalanches. Please let us know what you're seeing out there at [email protected].

The current snow surface is highly variable and includes surface facets (dry sugary snow) and surface hoar in sheltered areas, and pockets of wind slab or an ice crust in open wind-exposed terrain (depending on aspect). Strong and variable winds over the past week have probably created dense wind slabs on a variety of aspects and has cross-loaded gulley features. A weak layer of facetted snow on a crust may be lurking deeper in the snowpack, but may be limited to slopes above treeline. There's limited recent info on this weakness so I recommend digging to confirm the existence of the layer, its depth, and to test its strength. Snow pack depth and snow quality drastically diminishes as you drop below treeline.