Vancouver Island

A few loose dry size one avalanches reported from steep N aspect terrain between 1400 and 1500 meters.

Over the previous forecast period, the western front ranges received in excess of 50 cm with the eastern drier side receiving 25-30 cm. Winds prevailed from both the south east and south west, starting as strong and tailing off to light. Beginning Sunday, skies cleared, temperatures dropped and winds where generally light. Freezing levels fluctuated ,but have consistently remained below 1000 meters.

A period of cool and clear will be short lived as a series of low pressure storm fronts will move into the region. Expect early Tuesday increasing winds and precipitation. Freezing levels will continue to remain below 1000 meters bringing much needed snow to mountainous areas.Monday Nil precipitation , Winds Light from the North east , Freezing levels 300 meters.Tuesday 10 to 20 mm of precipitation , Winds moderate to strong from the South east, Freezing levels 400 meters.Wednesday 5 to 10 mm of precipitation , Winds light from the South east, Freezing levels 700 meters.

During periods of high hazard, travel in alpine avalanche terrain should be avoided. Storm slab sensitivity has begun to reduce and cautious and conservative route finding should focus on avoiding overhead hazard. Early season low snow conditions exist at lower elevations, hazards such as creeks and rocks are just hiding under the snow-pack. Slow your pace and give plenty of time to maneuver around these hidden hazards.

Low and shallow snow pack conditions exist with depths below tree line at 40 to 50 cm and treeline depths of 60 to 80 cm. The snow pack in the alpine is exceeding 100 centimeters.Sundays field observations, revealed underfoot settlement was felt and audible whumpfing was heard. Snow-pack testing and profiling at 1500 m on a N asp revealed a well developed surface hoar layer down 60 cm and during numerous compression tests produced sudden collapse results. Basal faceting in lower snow pack was found to be bonding and no results where recorded when testing the instability.

Moderate - field observations limited to an isolated area