Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Cornices remain the primary concern. Solar radiation is a common cornice trigger. Limit your exposure when it's cloudy and completely avoid cornices when it's sunny.
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY: Mix of sun and cloud isolated flurries. Light southerly ridgetop winds. Freezing level around 1400 m.MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Light southeasterly ridgetop winds. Freezing level around 1500 m.TUESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Light southeasterly ridgetop winds. Freezing level around 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Friday in this region.
Snowpack Summary
10-15 cm of new snow on Saturday with light to moderate southerly winds may have created small wind slabs on lee features below ridgetops. The new snow will likely be sitting on hard surfaces created by strong winds earlier in the week. A weak layer of facets and crusts are buried 100-150 cm down. The layer has been unreactive recently, but rapid warming of the snowpack or a large trigger, such as a cornice, may still have the potential to trigger it.
Problems
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.
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.