Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Avoiding avalanche terrain or choosing "simple terrain' that is protected from the wind is both a good way to manage risk, and where you'll find the best riding.
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY NIGHT: Height of the storm: strong southerly winds, precipitation (heavy at times). Expected storm snow accumulations near treeline varies between 40 cm closer to the coast and 15 cm in drier inland areas.MONDAY: Around 10 but maybe as much as 20 cm more snow. Precipitation ending mid-day. Freezing level around 800 m. Winds moderate from the southwest.TUESDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods. Freezing level around 800 m. Light westerly winds.WEDNESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud. Dry. Freezing level around 500 m. Light to moderate southwest wind.
Avalanche Summary
Recent avalanches suggest the incoming storm may produce bigger avalanches than might otherwise be expected because of the relatively weak, sugary facets the new storm snow is falling on.On Saturday a small slab avalanche (size 1.5) was triggered in the facets releasing about 40 cm deep near treeline near Terrace. It didn't release wide, and didn't even run far (30 m). Two small (size 1.5) slab avalanches were triggered on Thursday, Both are thought to have released on the mid-february weak layer buried 30-50 cm below the surface.
Snowpack Summary
With a windy and reasonably intense storm arriving today (Sunday) expect reactive and widespread storm slabs and wind slabs. The incoming snow will cover previously scoured surfaces and aging hard wind slabs on all aspects in exposed terrain and sun crusts on more solar aspects. The upper- and mid-pack is weakening with continued cold temperatures so there are widespread areas with soft faceted snow, and possibly surface hoar. This sugary soft snow has been reactive in some snowpack tests and there have been some small slab avalanches noted on this layer. There is potential for these widespread facets to become a larger problem with additional new snow.The lower snowpack is generally considered strong.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.