Even if the skies are cloudy you should avoid slopes that have wet and mushy snow, especially at lower elevations with little overnight re-freeze. Check out this
LINK to see how easy it is to trigger a loose wet avalanche.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate -
Weather Forecast
A change in the weather pattern is approaching. FRIDAY NIGHT: 10 mm of rain to treeline with snow in the alpine. Ridgetop winds moderate from the South and freezing levels 1300 m. SATURDAY: Cloudy with some sunny periods. Freezing levels 1400 m and treeline temperatures near +4 degrees. Ridgetop wind light from the South.SUNDAY: A mix of sun and cloud. Freezing levels 1500 m and treeline temperatures near +5. Ridgetop winds remain light.MONDAY: Cloudy with some light showers. Freezing levels 1800 m and treeline temperatures near +8 degrees.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Thursday. Natural loose wet avalanches up to size 1 were reported on Tuesday in the North Shore Mountains. Natural activity may start to taper off with cooler temperatures this weekend. Human triggered avalanches are possible especially at lower elevations from southerly aspects due to a lack of re-freeze.
Snowpack Summary
Snow surfaces are variable and the heat has likely eliminated any trace of cold snow except on high elevation north features. Melt-freeze conditions (more melt then freeze at lower elevations) exist on all other aspects and elevations and signs of snowballing, surface sluffing and loose wet avalanches are current.Deeper in the snowpack a layer of weak and sugary faceted grains sits on a melt-freeze crust about 50 to 120 cm deep. This layer is most prominent in the North Shore Mountains on north aspects. There have been no recent reports of avalanches or the reactivity of this layer in snowpack tests. However the layer can still be found. As the warm temperatures penetrate deeper and continue to destabilize the snowpack this layer may wake up initiating a larger persistent slab avalanche.
swerner,
Avalanche Canada
