Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Spring conditions typically means hazards are greatest during the heat of the afternoon. Start early, finish early.
Weather Forecast
Sunday is expected to be another sunny day (lots of solar radiation) with afternoon temperatures even warmer than Saturday. Light wind. No new precipitation. Monday and Tuesday look cloudy and cooler as a weak disturbance approaches the coast. Only trace amounts of precipitation are expected Monday with 5 to 10 mm of rain or snow on Tuesday. Freezing level both days around 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
With the arrival of spring, field observations and data are very limited in the region. No new avalanche reports does not mean avalanches are not occurring. One should expect cornices to continue to fail, at times triggering avalanches on the slopes below. Similarly, one must expect solar radiation and warm temperatures to weaken the snowpack, triggering loose wet and wet slab avalanches.
Snowpack Summary
Moist or wet snow exists on all aspects at all elevations. Any surface crusts that form overnight will quickly break down during the day. The snowpack's strength is directly related to the thickness and strength of these crusts. Where there are layers in the snowpack, they are generally bonding. A widespread crust/facet layer from early February and depth hoar at the bottom of the snowpack (primarily in northerly & inland areas) are dormant. Strong, thick crusts in the upper parts of the snowpack have limited the reactivity of these old layers; however, they could potentially once again produce isolated yet large avalanches with prolonged periods of warming.
Problems
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.
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.