Northwest Inland

Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain on Monday

Mostly clear skies are forecast for sunday morning with freezing levels at or near surface. Late in the day another frontal system will hit the region bringing 10-15cm of snow overnight and throughout monday. Moderate to strong southwest winds and freezing levels of 900m will accompany this system.Tuesday calls for light to moderate snowfall in the morning, cooler temperatures and reduced westerly winds.

No new avalanches have been reported. This may speak more to lack of reports from the field than actual avalanche conditions. Any information (professional or recreational) from the field is highly appreciated. Please send your observations to [email protected].

About 15 centimetres of new snow and surface hoar crystals are sitting on the less recent 20cm of storm snow which fell earlier in the week. This storm snow we received earlier this week sits on a variety of old weak snow surfaces including surface hoar, melt-freeze crusts and facetted snow. For the most part all aspects between 900m-2000m have a hard melt freeze crust. This crust is widespread and is lingering in most start zones. This is the layer of concern at the moment. Above this crust surface hoar (feathery crystals) and facets (sugary crystals) may be preserved. The recent winds in the alpine seem to have destroyed the surface hoar in exposed areas in the alpine eliminating that problem but creating a wind slab problem. In short, the upper snowpack is variable and a cautious approach is required as new slabs continue to form over the buried weak layers. The midpack seems to be well settled and strong.