Northwest Coastal

Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

A naturally triggered size 2.5 persistent slab avalanche was reported below a large cornice on a west aspect in the alpine on Sunday. It was reported as being 24 to 48 hours old.

A few naturally triggered wet loose avalanches up to size 1.5 were also reported on sunny aspects.

Field observations are currently very limited in this region.

Please consider sharing your observations to the Mountain Information Network.

Dry snow and small isolated wind slabs may exist on shady slopes in the alpine.

A hard melt-freeze crust exists on the snow surface on sun-exposed slopes to the mountain tops. The crust will transition to wet snow with daytime warming and generally re-freeze at night.

Cornices are large and may become weak with daytime warming.

Monday night

Mostly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries, 0 to 10 cm snow. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Thursday

Mix of sun and cloud. 5 to 10 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
• Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.
• When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.