Northwest Coastal

When the sun comes out it will quickly weaken the surface snow. Watch for signs that the snow is heating up such as pin-wheeling or the snow surface becoming moist.

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Light northeasterly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperature +2. Freezing level around 1200 m.TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with sunny breaks. Light southwesterly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperature +1. Freezing level around 1100 m.WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy with flurries. Light southwesterly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperature +2. Freezing level around 1200 m.

Several naturally triggered wind slabs up to size 2 on steep alpine features were reported near Bear Pass on Saturday. On Wednesday, a size 2.5 persistent slab avalanche was remotely triggered by a group of skiers on a ridgetop from 10 m away. The avalanche failed on surface hoar about 70 cm deep on a north aspect at 1800 m near Bear Pass.

10-20 cm of recent storm snow and strong variable winds have formed wind slabs on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.In the south of the region, two layers of surface hoar are buried approximately 70-100 cm deep. The layers are most prominent on north to east aspects and were buried early-March and mid-March. In the north of the region, these layers are around 40 cm deep.Bellow these March layers the mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong. However, shallower parts of the region, such as the far north, have weak sugary facets near the bottom of the snowpack.