Regions
South Coast Inland.
Limited field observations are contributing to low forecast confidence. Friday's rating is biased to the south of the region where new snow has been accumulating rapidly.
Confidence
Low - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Friday: Scattered flurries bringing about 5-10 cm of new snow. Strong to extreme southwest winds. Freezing level to about 1300 metres with alpine temperatures of around -3 to -1. Saturday: Cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Moderate southeast winds. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine temperatures of -2 to 0.Sunday: 20-30 cm of new snow to upper elevations, with rain below about 1800 metres. Strong south winds. Freezing level to 2200 metres and alpine temperatures around -1 to +1.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported, however touchy new storm slabs have developed at upper elevations over the course of Thursday's continued stormy weather. Please post your observations to the Mountain Information Network. (MIN)
Snowpack Summary
Although recent heavy rain has saturated the upper snowpack throughout the region, a fresh cover of wind affected new snow has been forming storm slabs at all elevations in the south of the region. While limited field observations have led to uncertainty in the composition of the mid and lower snowpack, moist snow is expected to be dominant throughout the snowpack.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.