Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the speed, direction, or duration of the wind and its effect on the snowpack.

Monday Night: Dry and clear. Cooling overnight. Light northwesterly winds.

Tuesday: Dry in the morning with increasing cloud cover. Light snow beginning in the afternoon. Freezing level around 700 m. Light westerly winds becoming moderate westerly in the afternoon. 

Wednesday: Approximately 30 cm new snow. Freezing level around 900 m. Moderate southwesterly winds.

Thursday: Flurries. Freezing level around 1000 m. Light winds.

There were a few reports of small avalanches from the weekend during the recent stormy weather. On Monday, things appeared to have settled in typical South Coast fashion. I would expect another short-lived avalanche cycle on Wednesday with another incoming storm. 

30-70 cm of recent snow appears to be adhering well to old surfaces. At higher elevations where dry snow fell, strong winds are expected to have deposited deep pockets of storm slab into lee terrain features.

Around 50-100 cm of snow now overlies a hard melt-freeze crust up to around 1500 m. This layer varies so widely in depth due to the wind transport of snow as it fell over the last two storms. It seems to be bonding well with surrounding snow.

The remainder of the snowpack is well-settled and hosts numerous other melt-freeze crusts which are well bonded to the surrounding snow.

• Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
• Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.