Northwest Coastal

Pockets of windslab continue to be a problem at higher elevations where the wind has transported the new snow.

Poor - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Friday

Continued light flurries this evening, and then clearing overnight. Mostly sunny with light Northeast winds on Wednesday. Temperatures around -5 in the alpine and freezing level at valley bottoms. Mostly sunny with light winds on Thursday. Cloud developing Thursday evening and light snow by Friday morning. Southwest winds should increase during the day Friday as the next storm moves into the region.

A skier triggered a size 1.0 windslab in a steep gully at treeline in the Sleeping Beauty area near Terrace. Please let us know what you're seeing out there. Email us at [email protected].

In the North of the region (north of Stewart) we have reports of 40 cm of heavily wind affected snow sitting on a laminated crust of ice lenses and facets. Snow profile tests are giving easy results in the facets beneath this crust. Deeper in the snowpack, at 80 cm down there is another crust that is breaking down and becoming bonded to the surrounding snow.In the Sleeping Beauty area near Terrace we have a report of 20 cm of facetted snow above a crust with pockets of that light dry snow blown into windslabs. Report from Shames describes some "minor cracking at ski tips down about 50 cm on a crust" that did not propagate any fractures. There was also a description of loose facets above a near surface crust on an up-track that sounds like a layer that could become a weak interface after the next loading cycle.As we begin our forecasting season, we are working with limited information from the field. This forecast is primarily based off weather station data and a few field observations.