Avalanche Forecast
Regions: South Coast.
Confidence
Fair
Weather Forecast
Synopsis: A building ridge of high pressure should give the South Coast dry conditions with a mix of sun and cloud for the next few days. The freezing level is around 1000 m on Tuesday but could bump up to 1800-2000 m on Wednesday/Thursday. Ridge winds should be light and variable. The next significant weather system might reach our region on Friday bringing moderate snow or rain.
Avalanche Summary
Several size 2 natural wind slabs were observed throughout the region on the weekend. The storm slab was reported to be sensitive to rider triggered at and below treeline in the Northern part of the region on Sunday. Here it was failing on the crust/surface hoar interface down around 35 cm.
Snowpack Summary
Recent snowfall amounts vary from north to south with an average of 25-35 cm of new snow near the Duffey Lake Road and 40-60 cm in the Cascades (Coquihalla and Allison Pass). Strong W-SW winds have formed deep and dense wind slabs in wind-affected terrain. The fresh storm and wind slabs overlie a hard crust and/or surface hoar. Recent snowpack tests show the potential for riders to trigger avalanches at this interface below the storm snow. Deeper snowpack weaknesses are still on our radar, but seem to be dormant for the time being.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 4
Loose Wet
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2