Northwest Coastal

Buried surface hoar may make wind slabs more reactive.

On Friday and Thursday, north of Stewart, several explosive and skier-triggered wind slab avalanches were triggered up to size 1.5.

With more snow and moderate wind in the forecast, triggering wind slab avalanches will remain possible, especially in areas where they overlie surface hoar.

On the surface, around 20 to 30 cm of snow has combined over the last two storms. This snow sits on a thick rain crust which may also have weak surface hoar or facets overlying it in some areas.

Recent and forecast winds have varied in direction, so expect wind slabs on all aspects. These slabs will likely be more reactive where they overlie the weak surface hoar and facets.

The mid and lower snowpack are not concerning at this time, and are made up of various hard layers, or moist snow at lower elevations.

This MIN report has a great description of the snow and ski conditions at Shames from last Friday.

Saturday Night

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud. 15 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Monday

Mostly sunny. 40 to 50 km/h southeast then east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 40 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
• Surface hoar distribution is highly variable. Avoid generalizing your observations.
• Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind-loaded snow.