Regions
Vancouver Island.
Confidence
High - Stable weather pattern.
Travel & Terrain Advice
Avoid avalanche terrain on solar aspects in the afternoon and give cornices a wide berth when on ridgetop or below.
Avalanche Summary
Size 1 natural loose wet avalanches from steep solar aspects in the afternoon at treeline and below mostly originating from rocks and trees.
Snowpack Summary
No new snow since Thursday, which has settled and bonded well to previous old surfaces. Warm temperatures and high freezing levels on Sunday created moist snow on all but polar alpine aspects which remain dry. Clear skies overnight have created melt freeze crusts on previously moist aspects. Recent winds have grown cornices at ridgetop on NW through NE aspects.
Snowpack Details
Surface: Diurnal melt freeze with the exception of polar alpine aspects. Upper: Old snow bonding and settling. Mid: Well settled. Lower: Well settled.
Past Weather
Spring diurnal. Warm during the day, cold at night. Light winds and no new snow.
Weather Forecast
Monday: Clear skies, freezing levels to 2400m. Strong SE winds. Tuesday: 5-15mm of precipitation. Rain below 1800m with freezing levels from 2000-1200m. Strong SE winds. Wednesday: Cooling with freezing levels to 800m. Light NW winds.
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.