Northwest Coastal

This forecast is based on limited field observations. If you head into the mountains, please send a note to [email protected] and let us know what you saw.

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

Saturday: Partly cloudy with light flurries possible, moderate to strong outflow winds in valley bottoms and moderate northeasterly alpine winds. Treeline temperatures expected to be around -15. Sunday: Partly cloudy but dry with moderate northertly alpine winds. Above freezing temperatures possible between 1200m and 2000m. Monday: Partly cloudy but dry with moderate northertly alpine winds and slightly warmer temperatures.

No recent avalanches have been reported, but reports are limited.

Snowpack depths are highly variable across the region, with elevation, and in wind-exposed areas. Low-elevation and wind-affected areas have a shallow faceted snowpack. While in higher elevation sheltered areas the recent storm snow is settling and gaining strength; however, weaknesses at the old snow interface down approximately 40cm may still need time to heal. Recent reports suggest this interface is still giving easy compression test results and remains a concern with wind slabs. The lower snowpack is a series of crusts, some of which are laminated with facets, particularly in shallower areas. Facets under the uppermost crust, down approximately 50cm, gave hard sudden collapse compression test results in the Shames area on Sunday. Recent cold and clear weather is promoting surface hoar formation and near-surface faceting.