Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Wind slabs can be found in immediate lee and cross-loaded features. The best riding will be in areas sheltered from the recent wind and warming effects.
Confidence
Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall at higher elevations and rain below, accumulation 1 to 3 mm, light northwesterly winds, alpine temperature -3 C, freezing level 900 m.FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy, light northerly winds, alpine temperature 0 C, freezing level 1400 m.SATURDAY: Partly cloudy, light northeasterly winds, alpine temperature 1 C, freezing level 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
A small wind slab on a northerly aspect was triggered by skier activity in a wind loaded feature at 1600 m. Otherwise, widespread loose wet avalanche activity was observed in the region on southerly aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Recent warming and rain have melted and refrozen the snow surface. Expect the snow surface to be a melt-freeze crust on all aspects except for possibly high elevation north. Strong easterly to southerly winds have redistributed any available soft snow and produced variable surfaces in alpine and treeline terrain, including wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. This overlies a sun crust on solar aspects and 5 to 20 mm surface hoar on sheltered, shady aspects at all elevation bands. Beneath this, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist below the surface from mid- and late-February. A surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm.Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.
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.