Danger will increase later Saturday and into Sunday as rain turns to snow, especially on wind-loaded slopes.
New wind slabs will form as snow accumulates, starting in the north Saturday and across the entire region Sunday.
Avoid leeward terrain features as they develop, as natural avalanches are possible.
Rain on Saturday could destabilize the surface snow and cause wet loose avalanches, especially if there is enough rain to break down the surface crust.
Reports are limited. A size 2 wind slab was triggered by a cornice earlier this week on a northeast aspect in the Blow Me Downs, and a sled-triggered wind slab was reported last weekend in the North Arm Hills.
While these older slabs have stabilized, new wind slabs will form in similar terrain this weekend.
Surface conditions will change through the weekend:
Sat: Rain will soak the surface and may weaken the upper snowpack.
Sun: Snow and strong southwest wind will form fresh wind slabs.
Mon: Continued snow with northwest wind will build more wind slabs.
Heading into the weekend, the snowpack is capped by a breakable melt-freeze crust and wind-stiffened snow. A widespread March crust is 30 to 40 cm deep.
Despite deep snowpacks in higher terrain, access may be affected by melt at lower elevations.
Friday Night
Increasing cloud. 1 to 5 mm of rain. 40 to 60 km/h west wind. Alpine temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 800 m.
Saturday
Cloudy. 5 to 15 mm of mixed precipitation falling as snow in the Northern Peninsula and rain to the south. 30 km/h southwest wind. Alpine temperature 0 °C. Freezing level up to 1000 m in the south and 500 m in the north.
Sunday
Cloudy. 15 to 30 cm of snow, with some rain possible south of Corner Brook. 40 to 60 km/h wind shifting from southwest to northwest. Alpine temperature -4°C. Freezing level dropping to sea level by the morning.
Monday
Another 5 to 10 cm of snow then sunny in the afternoon. 50 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Alpine temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
