The weekend will be a good time to avoid avalanche terrain: A warm storm is approaching and forecast snowfall amounts range anywhere from 40-80cm with 120km/h winds beginning on Saturday.
Conflicted weather models are calling for anywhere between 40-80cm of snow, which could easily overload buried persistent weak layers and trigger large avalanches. This will be a good test of the snowpack, but not a good time to be in it.
The incoming new snow and high winds will form new slabs in most areas beginning on Saturday, and we expect to see a natural avalanche cycle. This will be a good time to avoid all avalanche terrain.
A bit of fluff sits on a highly variable snowpack, and most areas have seen significant wind. The December 9 crust is down 30-80cm and is more prominent immediately around Cameron Lake, still giving hard sudden results in test profiles. A sandwich of crusts and facets form the base of the snowpack. Eastern areas hold a structurally weaker snowpack.
No recent avalanches observed
A warm storm is incoming! Models are calling for anywhere between 40-60cm of snow beginning on Friday and ending Sunday night, with nuclear southwest winds, up to 120km/h at ridgetop on Saturday. Freezing levels will likely sit around 1500m, but some models have them as high as 1850m.
