Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Confidence
Fair - Wind speed or direction are uncertain on Saturday
Weather Forecast
Friday night and Saturday: Light snowfall on Friday night with a clearing trend throughout Saturday / Moderate southwest winds associated with Friday's system becoming light and northwesterly on Saturday / Freezing level at 400mSunday: Mostly clear skies- Light snowfall for the north / Light southwest winds / Freezing level at 400mMonday: Light snowfall / Strong southwest winds / Freezing level at 400m
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported. Surface avalanche activity is quite likely in the wake of snowfall on Thursday night. It should most likely occur as loose dry avalanche activity, or as windslabs if the wind increases.
Snowpack Summary
In some areas over 25cm of recent snow overlies a variety of surfaces. These surfaces may include facets, surface hoar and variable windslabs from a week of strong to extreme northeast outflow winds. A layer of surface hoar buried in the upper metre of the pack has been observed in the Shames backcountry. The mid-pack is generally well settled. Near the base of the snowpack, a crust/facet layer continues to give hard, sudden results in snowpack tests. This weakness is unlikely to be triggered by a single person, but it remains possible with a very heavy load (e.g. cornice fall) or from a thin-spot trigger point.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.