Regions
Vancouver Island.
Travel & Terrain Advice
Numerous moats and trenches have opened up in steep terrain around the base of steep rock features. Take precaution to identify these hazards prior to committing to your objective. Expect surface conditions to become a very hard slippery surface crust especially near the end of this forecast period. All mountain travellers should consider the option to travel on slopes that minimize exposure to slips and falls.
Snowpack Summary
Upper snow pack is unconsolidated, wet to moist. The entire alpine snow pack has settled rapidly and the mid and lower snow pack are becoming dense and very well settled
Snowpack Details
Surface: wet to moist down 30 to 40 cm. Upper: unconsolidated. Mid: well settled. Lower: well settled.
Past Weather
Precipitation in the form of rain combined with warm temperatures and high freezing levels persisted over the last 48 hours. Winds where predominately south west and moderate to strong . Overnight temperatures remained high preventing most snow surfaces from developing a crust and recovering. Theses factors promoted the upper snow pack to become unconsolidated and warm.
Weather Forecast
A strengthening high pressure to the south west of the region will bring clearing sky, cooling temperatures and freezing level to seas level during the overnight period.Thursday: 5 mm of precipitation, temps 3 to 0 , winds light to moderate Sw becoming Light Nw late in the afternoon, freezing level to 1500-500 m.Friday: Clear, temps -3 to -6, winds light Nw, freezing level 900 m dropping to sea level overnight.Saturday: Clear, temps -5 rising to +2, winds light Ne, freezing level 300 m rising to 900 m mid day.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.