Northwest Coastal

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain

Overnight Monday & Tuesday: Moderate Northerly wind backing to strong Westerly. 10 to 20 cm of additional snow with continued cold temperatures (below freezing all elevations).Wednesday: Continued wind: moderate to strong from the west, with another few cm of snow and just slightly warmer (freezing level climbing to 700m or so).Thursday: Winds finally easing off and backing to the SW, continued unsettled with light precipitation and just slightly warmer than Wednesday.

Natural avalanche activity occurred on higher elevation wind loaded slopes up to size 2.5 on Sunday. Loose snow avalanches were also reported running in the storm snow. A skier triggered a slab avalanche at approximately 1200 m on a north aspect in the recent storm snow.

The region has 30-70 cm of new snow which continues to build over a variety of surfaces. It's being drifted into big wind slabs by strong NW wind. These include old hard and soft wind slabs, scoured slopes, blue ice, thin melt-freeze crusts and surface hoar. Moderate to strong winds are shifting snow into slabs in the lee of terrain breaks such as ridges and ribs. Reports generally indicate that the bulk of this storm snow seems to be settling quickly, which is a good. However, with a continued stormy pattern I would wait out the storms and watch how the snowpack adapts  to the rapid changes.Two persistent weaknesses (comprising of surface hoar and facets) buried in the upper snowpack recently gave moderate to hard, sudden results in snowpack tests. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong, although basal facets remain a concern in the north of the region.