Northwest Coastal

Fair

Synopsis:  The true pineapple breaks down Friday and a more zonal flow builds in its place.  The North Coast will see a bit more precip than the South Coast, but the amounts are still relatively dismal by coastal standards. Friday:  Freezing Level 200m. Precip: 7-12mm/10-20cm. Wind: Strong, SouthSaturday:  Freezing Level 400m.  Precip: Trace. Wind: West, Moderate gusting StrongSunday: Freezing Level surface. Precip: Trace Wind: Light, NE

Numerous soft slabs to size 2.0 were reported from both treeline and alpine elevations Thursday.

25 - 50cm of unconsolidated new snow is beginning to bond to a tenuous old surface which include: a crust at lower elevations and on solar aspects; old wind slabs in exposed areas, and fairly widespread large surface hoar. Moderate to locally extreme west/southwest winds have redistributed the new snow into soft and hard wind slabs in exposed terrain. This new snow is stubbornly reactive to human triggers primarily where cohesive wind slabs have formed, but reactivity is expected to become more widespread as the overlying slab develops with continued loading. Outflow winds are forecast for Friday which will likely result in some reverse loading in wind exposed terrain. The mid snowpack layers are generally well settled and strong. Facets at the base of the snowpack may resurface as a concern now that spring warming is on the doorstep and full-depth releases are becoming more likely (primarily in the northern part of the region).