Northwest Coastal

Spring conditions typically means hazards are greatest during the heat of the afternoon. Start early, finish early.

Sunday is expected to be another sunny day (lots of solar radiation) with afternoon temperatures even warmer than Saturday. Light wind. No new precipitation. Monday and Tuesday look cloudy and cooler as a weak disturbance approaches the coast. Only trace amounts of precipitation are expected Monday with 5 to 10 mm of rain or snow on Tuesday. Freezing level both days around 1500 m.

With the arrival of spring, field observations and data are very limited in the region. No new avalanche reports does not mean avalanches are not occurring. One should expect cornices to continue to fail, at times triggering avalanches on the slopes below. Similarly, one must expect solar radiation and warm temperatures to weaken the snowpack, triggering loose wet and wet slab avalanches.

Moist or wet snow exists on all aspects at all elevations. Any surface crusts that form overnight will quickly break down during the day. The snowpack's strength is directly related to the thickness and strength of these crusts. Where there are layers in the snowpack, they are generally bonding. A widespread crust/facet layer from early February and depth hoar at the bottom of the snowpack (primarily in northerly & inland areas) are dormant. Strong, thick crusts in the upper parts of the snowpack have limited the reactivity of these old layers; however, they could potentially once again produce isolated yet large avalanches with prolonged periods of warming.