Northwest Coastal

Use extra caution on steep slopes at treeline.

Buried surface hoar has been reactive to skiers and even produced remotely triggered avalanches.

Over the weekend several human triggered avalanches up to size 1.5 were reported, these avalanches all failed on the surface hoar and facet layer described in the snowpack summary. Most of these avalanches were at treeline with a few being triggered in the alpine.

Remotely triggered avalanches have also been reported like the one in this MIN.

Up to 20 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed into wind slabs by westerly winds. In sheltered terrain this snow overlies a layer of surface hoar and facets. A new crust may be found on steep south facing slopes.

Below this is a thick and hard melt-freeze crust extending up to approximately 1700 m. This crust is just buried by the 10 to 20 cm of new snow at lower elevations.

Monday Night

Mostly clear with trace amounts of new snow possible, north alpine wind 25 to 50 km/h, temperature inversion with -1°C at 1500 m and colder temperatures below.

Tuesday

Clear skies  with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -1°C.

Wednesday

Clear skies with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

Thursday

Clear skies with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 40 to 70 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
• Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.