Regions
Northwest Coastal.
The snowpack is tricky to predict at the moment. Backcountry travel requires local knowledge, extensive experience and training. Please read the new Forecaster's Blog Post.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Tuesday: Mainly unsettled conditions, few flurries. Ridgetop winds 15km/hr from the South. Treeline temperatures near -9. Wednesday: Light snow amounts near 5cm. Ridgetop winds 30km/hr from the East. Treeline temperatures near -12. Thursday: Isolated flurries. Ridgetop winds 30km/hr from the SW. Treeline temperatures near -8.
Avalanche Summary
Natural ice and cornice fall has been reported. The natural ice triggered a size 2.5 on a NE aspect, while the cornice fall triggered a size 3.5 which ran to valley bottom. Reports of large loose power sluffing, entraining significant amounts of recent storm snow on N-NE aspects. West aspects also producing loose sluffing up to size 2. Many avalanches up to size 2.5 have been reported; both human and natural triggered. The smaller events released on storm interfaces while the bigger events went down to the February 09 facet/crust/surface hoar interface.
Snowpack Summary
Over the weekend new snow up to 25 cm fell. Generally, this has left us with a 45-60 cm sitting above the mid February layers. Recent clear, sunny skies have created a sun crust on south facing terrain into the alpine.The aforementioned mid February layers consist of a strong melt freeze crust below 1000m, buried wind slabs near treeline and higher into the alpine while between these elevations the interface varies wildly from facets, surface hoar, sun crust or wind press. The surface hoar seems to be spotty but is responsible for much of the recent avalanche activity. Recent testing done on the SH layers produced CTM SP down 70-100m. With the additional wind loading, pockets as deep as 90cm are possible on lee features. Recent outflow winds have exacerbated the wind slab issue, building reactive slabs on south facing terrain features. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.
Problems
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.