Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Forecast new snow may release as loose wet avalanches during the warmest part of the day. Some thin wind slabs may also develop in the alpine.
Confidence
Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Tuesday
Weather Forecast
Overnight: 2-3 cm of new snow with light easterly winds and freezing down to 400 metres. Tuesday: 5-10 cm of new snow with moderate to strong southwest winds and daytime freezing up to 900 metres. Wednesday: 5-8 cm of new snow with moderate to strong south winds and daytime freezing up to 1400 metres. Thursday: Becoming clear by late morning with light winds and daytime freezing up to 1600 metres.
Avalanche Summary
There have been no recent reports of avalanche activity in the south of the region. That being said there is little to no information being passed on from the region recently. Exposure to large overhanging cornices remains a significant concern. Forecast new snow may release as loose wet avalanches from steep terrain during exposure to the sun or from daytime warming.
Snowpack Summary
Recent snow has been transported by the wind, and high alpine terrain may be stripped down to ice or old hard surfaces. Wind deposited snow may be sitting on a variety of old surfaces including hard wind crusts in exposed terrain and sun crusts on solar aspects. At the tree line elevation, warming and refreezing earlier in the week has created melt freeze crusts. Below tree line the surface snow is likely a mix of crusts at the upper end of the elevation band to moist or wet snow throughout the entire thickness of the snowpack at the lower portions of the elevation band.
Problems
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.
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.