Avalanche Forecast
Regions: South Coast.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
On Tuesday freezing levels are expected to rise as high as 2500 m as a Pacific frontal system brings up to 50 mm of precipitation and extreme southwesterly alpine winds. Wednesday is looking just as warm, windy, and wet. At this point, Thursday is looking slightly drier and cooler with freezing levels dropping below 2000 m and another 10-20 mm of precipitation as alpine winds shift to moderate southeasterlies.
Avalanche Summary
No new reports of avalanches. Please let us know what you're seeing out there at forecaster@avalanche.ca.
Snowpack Summary
Around 10-15 cm of moist then refrozen snow buried the previous variable snow surface that consisted of facets and large surface hoar in sheltered areas, or pockets of old wind slab and an ice crust in open wind-exposed terrain (depending on aspect). There are probably a couple notable crusts in the upper to mid snowpack. The deeper crust may be associated with a weak layer of facetted snow, but may be limited to slopes at and above treeline. One recent snowpack test on this layer in the northwest part of the region produced a sudden "pops" result down 80 cm on a north aspect at treeline. Snow pack depth and snow quality drastically diminishes as you drop below treeline.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 3
Loose Wet
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2