Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Monday: moderate snowfall occurring between late afternoon and early Tuesday morning / moderate to strong southwest winds / freezing level @ 600m Tuesday: Moderate to heavy snowfall in the afternoon, continuing into Wednesday morning / strong southwest winds / freezing level @ 600m Wednesday: Moderate snowfall in the morning easing off by mid-day / strong northwest winds / freezing level@ 400m
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches to report. Expect slab avalanche activity in response to weather forecast for Monday afternoon.
Snowpack Summary
The last week has seen dribs and drabs of snowfall with light winds in most areas. The recently fallen snow sits over a strong melt freeze crust that exists below 1000m on all aspects and over wind-pressed powder on shaded alpine features. Sandwiched between the newer snow and the aforementioned older surfaces may be a buried surface hoar layer at treeline and below. This surface hoar layer seems most prevalent in protected inland areas. Where it exists, we expect to see gradually increasing reactivity in the surface hoar interface with loading and slab development forecast for this week. Check out our Forecaster's Blog for some insight on incremental loading. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.