Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain on Friday

The weather patterns will start to change on Wednesday. The South Coast will see light amounts of precipitation starting in the afternoon with freezing levels near 1000m. They could rise to 1500m later in the afternoon. Thursday into Friday may bring light-moderate (up to 20mm) precipitation, with freezing levels rising to 1300m. Ridgetop winds will be moderate from the SE, switching Southerly towards the end of the forecast period. Weather models disagree; confidence in precipitation amounts is poor.

No new avalanche observations reported today.

Surface snow conditions consist mainly of crusts that have developed due to melt/freeze conditions, and direct solar impact on steep Southerly aspects. Northerly aspects still host dry, wintery snow. On lee slopes in the alpine there are pencil-4 finger hard wind slabs. Surface faceting is occurring on sheltered, shady aspects. While shallow, rocky slopes are faceting and weaker; posing a threat to deeper releases. Surface hoar development up to 5mm has been reported at treeline, and below treeline. These may be our next layers of concern once buried. The Feb 01 (120201) rain crust is down 10-40 cm up to about 2000 meters. The mid-January crust is down between 50-100 cm, and the mid December crust is buried down up to 200 cm. The average snowpack depth at 1650m is near 240cm.