South Coast

Conservative route selection is key, especially when the sun finally pokes out and if temperatures warm as forecast.

Fair

Synopsis: Lingering flurries are likely on Monday in the wake of a frontal system. A ridge of high pressure begins to build in resulting in clearing and drier conditions for Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday: Flurries ending early (mainly south), then cloudy with sunny breaks. The freezing level is at valley bottom. Winds are generally light. Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level is around 1200-1500m with treeline temps ranging from -5 to 0. Winds are light and variable. Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level jumps remains near 2500 m. Winds are light and variable.

A number of very large (size 3-4) natural and explosive triggered slab avalanches occurred near the Coquihalla Pass on Thursday and Friday. These events were in response to rapid loading from new snowfall and strong winds and showed impressive propagation. A couple natural avalanches were also observed in the Steep Creek area off the Duffey Lake road on Friday. One of these appeared to release on relatively low angle terrain (30 degrees) and propagated very far. Check out Wayne Flann's Avalanche blog for photos.

10-20 cm of low density new snow has fallen in the past couple days, accompanied by light to moderate winds. Previous strong winds created dense wind slabs on a variety of aspects and in cross-loaded terrain features. In the southern portion of the region up to 200 cm of settled storm snow sits on a crust/facet combination buried in mid February. In northern sections this weakness includes surface hoar and is generally down 60-100 cm. Recent snowpack tests indicate that this weak layer may be gaining strength, but professionals remain suspect. The mid and lower snowpack are generally strong and well-settled. However, basal facets and depth hoar are likely to exist in the north of the region and still deserve respect on thin rocky alpine slopes.