A rising freezing level will likely keep alpine danger ratings elevated through the week.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Weather Forecast
An upper ridge will build over southern half of the province deflecting a series of incoming fronts to the north. Wednesday will see light precipitation starting overnight with a freezing level of between 1500 to 2000m. The rain will spread to the alpine on Thursday and Friday as freezing levels rise to 3000m. Winds will be moderate to strong from the south to southwest through the forecast period.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity appears to have tapered off for now although small lose wet avalanches have been reported in steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
It's definitely not your typical early February coastal snowpack. Last week’s pineapple express brought 30 to 100cm of snow above 2200m with heavy rains saturating the snowpack at lower elevation. Cornices are reported to be looming at upper elevation. Warm temperatures are now driving rapid settlement of the storm snow and the average depth of snow above the supportive early February rain crust is now around 70cm. Snowpack tests on both the mid storm instabilities and the February Crust are showing that these layers continue to strengthen. The snow below 2000m is wet, and a saturated slush on crust setup can be found below treeline.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.