Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Due to the quality of field observations

Synopsis: A low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska will feed moisture onto the coast and into the interior for the next 4 or 5 days.Tonight: Cloudy with flurries, 5 to 10 cm of precipitation, freezing level around 200 metres winds from the west  25 to 35 Km/hr.Monday: Cloudy, trace of precipitation in the forecast, freezing level around 500 metres, winds from the west, 25 Km/hr.Tuesday: Cloudy with flurries, possible 5 to 10 cm of precipitation,, freezing level around 1000 metres winds from the south west light occasionally gusting to moderate.Wednesday: Sunny with cloudy periods and isolated flurries, 5 to 10 cm of precipitation expected, freezing level rises to around 1300 metres, winds light from the west, gusting moderate to strong.

No reports of avalanche activity on Sunday at time of publishing, but this is more likely a result of the lack of observations rather than lack of avalanche activity. Widespread activity  has been expected for Saturday night and Sunday as the storm passes through the area..

The recent storm snow is sitting on a a variety of weak layers that includes well-developed sun crust on solar aspects, surface hoar in sheltered areas, and a widespread temperature/rain crust at lower elevations. Strong SW storm winds are forming new wind slabs on lee slopes.The warm weather has resulted in good settlement of the snowpack and most of the layers are now well bonded. There are still two weak layers that remain a concern but these problems are becoming more isolated. However, the weight of the new storm snow may reactivate these layers. With recent storm snow loading, the March layer should now be down close to 100cm and the early February layer should be roughly 1.8m. It seems like these persistent weak layers are more of a concern in the northern parts of the region but they may still pose a threat in the Coquihalla and south and east towards Manning Park.