Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to difficult to forecast freezing levels.

MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with light rain, moderate wind from the south, treeline temperatures around +2 C.

TUESDAY: Rain transitioning to snow as freezing level drops from 1500 to 1000 m, accumulations of 20-40 cm of new snow above 1000 m, strong wind from the south, treeline temperatures around 0 C.

WEDNESDAY: Flurries continue with 10-15 cm of snow above 1000 m, moderate wind from the south, treeline temperatures around 0 C.

THURSDAY: Heavy rain up to 1800 m (40-70 mm), strong wind from the southwest, treeline temperatures around +5 C.

Before snow turned to rain on Monday a few small (size 1) storm slabs were reactive to skiers and explosive triggering on steep features over the weekend. See this MIN report for an example.

20-40 cm of new snow by Tuesday evening will bury wet and crusty snow left over from the rain on Monday. While it snowed a whopping 100-170 cm last week, this snow has since been soaked by heavy rain all the way to the tops of the North Shore mountains. In higher elevation peaks there may still be dry snow and potential wind slab or storm slabs problems.

• Storm snow and wind is forming touchy slabs. Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline.
• Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.
• Remember that the snowpack will be significantly different at higher elevations than lower down.