Northwest Coastal

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

Monday: Mainly cloudy with light snow developing – around 5 cm. Freezing level remains at valley bottom and winds are moderate to strong from the Northwest. Tuesday: Cloudy with light to moderate snow – 5-10 cm. Freezing level remains at valley bottom but temperatures are starting to moderate. Winds should be light to moderate from the W-NW.Wednesday: The flow finally changes to southwesterly bringing a pacific frontal system to the region with moderate precipitation and milder temperatures.

No recent avalanches have been reported; however, 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.