As of Wednesday, May 16
Alpine: LOW (MODERATE in PM)
Treeline: LOW (MODERATE in PM)
Below Treeline: LOW
Travel
Advisory: Expect firm snow conditions and low hazard in the morning hours.
As the crust breaks down each afternoon, expect wet surface snow and a rising
hazard. Take extra caution around cornices as the freeze-thaw cycle will
continue to significantly weaken them. A weak system may load some snow into
higher elevation start zones by the weekend.
Avalanche Activity:
Most start zones exposed to the sun have produced loose wet surface avalanches
over the past week. Some of these avalanches have run relatively far and
resulted in significant debris piles. The trend toward overcast conditions will
slow daytime warming, while light precipitation on Saturday could create some
isolated areas of new snow instability.
Snowpack: Up to 10
cm of freeze-thaw crust is sitting above a variable layer of wet snow. Below
this is a well-settled and very dense coastal snowpack. The surface crust
will continue to break down each day, and reform with nighttime cooling. While
weak systems may briefly result in new snow instabilities, the overall trend is
toward snowpack settlement and a uniform dense snowpack.
Weather: The ridge
of high pressure that brought us the recent sunny weather is moving east,
leaving behind cloudy dry conditions through Friday. A weak system on Saturday
will bring cooler temperatures and snowfall at treeline and above.
This is the final
avalanche advisory that we will be producing this season. We hope you had a
good winter season and have lots of stories to share over a cold beverage on a
patio this summer.
– Blackcomb Mountain Snow Safety