Another wet storm is hitting the coast on Friday night. In the meantime, the new snow may be reactive at higher elevations where it's poorly bonded to a buried rain crust.
Confidence
Moderate - Timing of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Weather Forecast
FRIDAY: Light flurries before the next storm arrives Friday evening, moderate southwest winds, treeline temperatures around -2 C.SATURDAY: Storm starts Friday night and delivers 40-60 cm, strong southwest winds, freezing level up to 1200 m.SUNDAY: Clearing skies following the storm as treeline temperatures drop to around -5 C, light west winds.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported recently but observations have been very limited during the warm storm. On Friday, the most recent snow is expected to form new wind slabs in exposed terrain that may bond poorly to a buried rain crust.
Snowpack Summary
About 20 cm of new snow fell on Thursday which now sits above a widespread layer of wet snow that is gradually turning into a crust. Moderate south winds are likely forming wind slabs in the lee of exposed terrain, which may bond poorly to the crust. The late-February weak layer is about 1.5 m deep and is likely now unreactive in most areas. This layer is composed of a sun crust on southerly aspects and surface hoar on shaded aspects.
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.