Northwest Coastal

Huge winds are expected to maintain very dangerous avalanche conditions even as snowfall eases off somewhat on Wednesday. This pattern repeats itself over the week.

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

Tuesday night: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing 10-20 cm of new snow. Strong to extreme southwest winds.Wednesday: Cloudy with continuing snowfall bringing around 15-20 cm of new snow. Strong to Extreme southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5. Another round of snowfall giving 20-30 cm overnight.Thursday: Cloudy with continuing snowfall bringing another 10-20 cm of new snow. Extreme southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -4. Flurries continuing overnight.Friday: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing another 10-20 cm of new snow. Extreme southeast winds. Alpine high temperatures increasing to around -1 as freezing levels rise to a possible 1500 metres.

While we don't have recent reports, natural storm slab avalanche activity is almost certainly occurring during the barrage of storms hitting the region.

Another 20-30 cm of new snow expected by the end of Wednesday should bring storm totals from the past few days up to about 60-110 cm. Extreme southwest and west winds are likely to likely form the thickest deposits on lee slopes at high elevations.The new snow is likely bonding poorly to the weak surface hoar and facets that have been sitting on the surface for the past week, especially on sheltered slopes at treeline. Deeper in the snowpack, there are reports of several crusts including an early season crust with facets near the bottom of the snowpack.Prior to the storms, there was only 70-120 cm of snow in the alpine and very little coverage below treeline, but this is finally changing.