Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Avalanche danger will increase when the sun is out. Watch for natural cornice falls and loose wet avalanches from steep terrain.
Weather Forecast
Overnight: Moderate to strong Easterly winds with a couple of cm of new snow and freezing staying above 1000 metres. Monday: Mix of sun and cloud with moderate southeast winds and daytime freezing up to 1400 metres. Tuesday: Cooler with a good overnight freeze to 700 metres; 3-5 cm of new snow during the day with strong southwest winds developing and freezing up to 1000 metres. Wednesday: 5-8 cm of new snow with strong south winds and daytime freezing up to 1200 metres.
Avalanche Summary
There have been no recent reports of avalanche activity in the south of the region. That being said there is little to no information being passed on from the region recently. Exposure to large overhanging cornices remains a significant concern. As the sun comes out over the weekend expect to see cornices weaken and loose snow avalanches run from steep sun exposed slopes during the warmest parts of the day.
Snowpack Summary
New snow at upper elevations from last week has been redistributed by winds switching from southwest to east and back again. This may be sitting on a variety of old surfaces including hard wind crusts in exposed terrain and sun crusts on solar aspects. At the tree line elevation, warming and refreezing earlier in the week has created melt freeze crusts. Below tree line the surface snow is likely a mix of crusts at the upper end of the elevation band to moist or wet snow throughout the entire thickness of the snowpack at the lower portions of the elevation band.
Problems
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.
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.