Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Variable new snow amounts and ongoing outflow winds are making conditions a little tricky. Stay alert to signs of instability and be prepared to change your plans.
Confidence
Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable
Weather Forecast
Sunday: Mainly cloudy with a chance of flurries. The freezing level is between the surface and 600 m. Ridge winds are light to moderate from the S-SW. Monday: Cloudy with sunny breaks. The freezing level is near 600 m but an above freezing layer near 1500 m is likely. Winds are moderate from the SW-SE. Tuesday: Cloudy with moderate precipitation. The freezing level is around 900-1200 m and winds are strong from the S-SW.
Avalanche Summary
Some loose snow sluffing has been observed in steep terrain, but no new slab avalanches have been reported since Wednesday last week.
Snowpack Summary
Approximately 5-10 cm of new snow now covers the previous variable surface of facetted powder, wind affected snow, sun crust, and/or surface hoar. New soft wind slabs may develop in immediate lee features, and the new snow may hide older stiff or hard slabs formed by recent outflow winds. Wind slabs may be reactive to the weight of a rider, especially in areas where a slab overlies surface hoar buried by the Boxing Day storm. Professionals in the region are still tracking a few other surface hoar layers that developed throughout December which are now buried in the top 100cm. These layers have likely gained significant strength, and represent a low probability / higher consequence scenario at and below treeline elevations. In colder and shallower snowpack areas watch for weak basal facets.
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.