Avalanche Forecast
Northwest Coastal
Cool and stable weather should mean a gradually strengthening snowpack.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- The weekends storm snow will require a few days to settle and stabilize.
- Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect and exposure to wind.
- Watch for signs of instability such as whumpfing or cracking.
Avalanche Problem 2: Deep Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
A significant new load has been added to the snowpack and the chance of triggering a deep persistent slab has likely increased. Scale the objectives back a bit as we all continue to gather information about this slab.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Minimize exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, carefully select genuinely safe spots to re-group.
- Storm slabs in motion could step down and trigger deep persistent slab avalanches.
- Be especially cautious in areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
The north part of the region reported up to size three natural avalanches over the weekend. Poor visibility limited observations in the south but no new avalanches were reported.
Snowpack Summary
The region picked up 20 to 60cm of storm snow over the weekend accompanied by winds out of the southwest, west, northwest, and even a bit of southeast. This has likely led to the development of a cohesive slab, especially in wind exposed features. These new storm and wind slabs rest on a rain saturated snowpack between valley bottom and 800m. Above 800m, the new storm snow rests on settled old snow, or a melt freeze crust that is 3 to 15cm thick. Below this crust the mid-pack is strong, but there are reports of a feathery surface hoar layer on or right around this crust in sheltered locations. There is a second prominent crust that is associated with facets buried at the end of October, look for this widespread interface down around 100 to 200cm below the surface.
Weather Forecast
The storm track will follow the Canada -- USA border over the next few days so the Northwest should be cool and dry.
Tuesday: Mix of sun and cloud, dry, light to moderate northeast winds, and alpine temperatures around -5 C.
Wednesday: A temperature inversion could mean sunshine in the alpine but grey and cold below the valley cloud. Nil precipitation. Alpine temperatures could near freezing; colder at low elevations. Light but gusting northwest wind.
Thursday: Mix of sun & clouds. Dry. Light but gusting north wind. Alpine temperatures around -5 to -10 C.
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20 to 60cm of snow fell during the weekend with wind from the SW, W, NW and even SE. This snow is likely settling into a cohesive slab that rests on a variety of old surfaces, including a prominent crust.