Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Spring conditions typically means hazards are greatest during the heat of the afternoon. Start early, finish early.
Weather Forecast
Skies will cloud over Monday morning with a weak disturbance arriving overnight. Because the disturbance leads with a cold front, freezing level should lower to around 1000m overnight Monday and then hover between 1000 and 1500m through Wednesday. Winds will back to the south but remain in the light to moderate range. Precipitation forecast calls for 5 to 15mm by Tuesday evening -- rain at mid and lower elevations, snow at higher elevations.
Avalanche Summary
No new observations reported.Cornices are also expected to be weak right now. Wet Loose response to solar rad & daytime warming. Wet slab possible lower elevations. TL & BTL likely just melting out gracefully,
Snowpack Summary
Moist or wet snow exists on all aspects at all elevations; the only possible exception is high elevation northerly aspects in Northern areas. Any surface crusts that form overnight will quickly break down during the day. The snowpack's strength is directly related to the thickness and strength of these crusts. Where layers remain in the snowpack, they are generally bonding. A widespread crust/facet layer from early February and depth hoar at the bottom of the snowpack (primarily in northerly & inland areas) are dormant. Cycles of melting and refreezing have limited the reactivity of these old layers. However they, or the ground, could potentially once again be the layer for an isolated yet large avalanche with prolonged periods of warming.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
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.