Northwest Coastal

Dangerous avalanche conditions persist as new snow and wind form fresh, reactive storm slabs.

Our limited field data suggests a natural avalanche cycle occurred in the past few days as rain and warm temperatures infiltrated the region.

Please consider submitting your observations to the Mountain Information Network.

New snow accumulates atop a moist upper snowpack from rain in the past few days. Strong winds will redistribute new snow and create heavily wind-affected surfaces.

The remainder of the snowpack is strong, with various hard layers and crusts.

Thursday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 mm of precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridge top wind. Freezing level drops to 1600 m. Treeline temperature 0 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with rain transitioning to snow, 10 to 30 cm of new snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level drops to 1000 m. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with up to 10 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridge top wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. 20 to 50 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Use conservative route selection. Choose simple, low angle terrain with no overhead hazard.
• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
• Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.