South Columbia

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A weak low pressure system moving out of the northwest is forecast to bring cloud and a few cm of new snow on Friday. The high pressure ridge should re-develop and bring clear skies and light winds for Saturday. Freezing levels are expected to be at valley bottoms overnight and rise up to about 1000 metres during the day. Sunday should be mostly clear in the morning with cloud developing in the afternoon.

On Wednesday there was a natural size 2.5 wind slab that released down 80 cm on a northwest aspect in the alpine. There was also a report of a natural cornice fall size 2.0 on a south aspect at 2600 metres.

At higher elevations, up to 10 cm of wind-pressed snow overlies the previous variable snow surface of surface hoar, crusts, or wind affected snow depending on aspect and elevation. The "Valentine's Day" crust is just below the surface and is now strong and thick in most places. Thin isolated wind slabs may still be reactive in high elevation lee terrain, and cornices remain large and weak. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer (up to 100 cm deep) and the mid-January surface hoar (80-120 cm deep) are generally dormant, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased. However, triggering may be possible with a large input such as cornice fall, or an avalanche stepping down, especially on sun drenched slopes.