Northwest Coastal

Warm and sunny weather may produce loose snow avalanches, especially on southerly aspects. The danger is rated for the warmest part of the day.

Moderate -

THURSDAY NIGHT - Mainly clear / light northwest wind / alpine low temperature near +2 / freezing 1700 m FRIDAY - Mainly sunny / light northwest wind / alpine high temperature near +5 / freezing level 1700 mSATURDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / light northwest winds / alpine high temperature near +2 / freezing level 1600 mSUNDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / light northeast winds / alpine high temperature near +4 / freezing level 1600 m

When the sun comes out and temperatures rise during the day, loose wet avalanches will be likely on sun-affected slopes.A few glide slab avalanches up to size 2.5 have been reported near Terrace since Sunday on southerly slopes. Glide slabs typically happen on steep, smooth terrain features such as rock slabs or grassy slopes with little roughness. They are most common on southerly aspects, but during especially warm weather, may occur on shady aspects as well. Slopes with obvious large cracks (glide cracks) as well as slopes with a known history of glide releases are best avoided.

Sun exposed slopes in the alpine and on all aspects at treeline and below are becoming moist to wet during the heat of the day. In these areas spring conditions are in effect; the avalanche hazard will fluctuate greatly depending on the strength of the overnight freeze and how quickly the snowpack is warmed up each day. Check out this guide to managing avalanche hazard during spring conditions HERE.Dry snow remains on shady slopes in the alpine. In these locations, 50-100 cm of well settled snow overlies a layer of weak facets that were buried around March 10th. This is currently the primary layer of concern for human triggering persistent slab avalanches, although recent observations suggest it has become difficult to trigger an avalanche on this layer.Not much further below the March 10th interface is a second weak layer of facets buried on February 19th. Recent loose wet and slab avalanches have been observed gouging into this faceted snow and entraining additional mass.