Heavy rain and extreme winds are forecast to continue; anticipate loose wet avalanche activity at all elevations.
Rain at lower elevations continues to saturate the upper snowpack. While unlikely, the potential remains for wet slabs to fail in isolated areas.
On Friday the field team reported seeing numerous small loose wet avalanches in the Mt. Arrowsmith area. For more details check out their MIN.
With the current warm and wet conditions hitting the Island we suspect a natural avalanche cycle is ongoing.
Rain has saturated the upper snowpack right to mountaintop. At higher elevations recent snow buried a variable melt-freeze crust.
In the mid-snowpack, a reactive crust/facet combination may exist in high alpine terrain.
The potential remains for wet slabs to be triggered on these crusts in isolated areas.
Otherwise, the mid and lower snowpack contains a series of old crusts and is currently well-bonded and strong.
Friday Night
Cloudy with heavy rain, southwest alpine winds 60 km/h, treeline temperature 5°C, freezing levels around 1700 m.
Saturday
Cloudy with moderate to heavy rain, southwest alpine winds 60 to 70 km/h, treeline temperature 8°C, freezing levels around 2400 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with moderate to heavy rain, south alpine winds 90 to 100 km/h, treeline temperature 8°C, freezing levels around 2500 m.
Monday
Cloudy with heavy rain, south alpine winds 80 to 90 km/h, treeline temperature 5°C, freezing levels around 2200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
