Look for wind slabs as you move into bigger terrain features. Wind deposited snow may still react to human triggers.
Avalanche danger is decreasing, make sure to verify conditions as you travel.
Recent strong winds from the SW through NW have formed wind slabs in exposed terrain at higher elevations. These slabs are more reactive where they overlie buried surface hoar or a smooth crust.
A cooling trend lowers freezing levels this week and a weak front brings light snowfall on Monday.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with freezing levels dropping to 500m. Moderate southwest winds.
MONDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall delivering trace to 3cm over the day. Strong southwest winds. Freezing levels reach 1200m. Alpine high of -2.
TUESDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with light westerly winds. Chance of flurries. Freezing levels reach 1200m. Alpine high of -3.
WEDNESDAY: A mix of sun and cloudy with light westerly winds. Freezing levels reach 1500m, alpine high of -3.
A large persistent slab avalanche was reported in the Steeples on Saturday afternoon, on a south facing aspect at 2300 m. This avalanche had wide propagation and ran for 2 km. It is believed to have occurred on the late January persistent weak layer, crowns were estimated at 50 cm deep.
Loose wet avalanches were observed throughout the warming trend last week, to size 2 in south facing terrain features.
Exposed terrain at alpine and treeline elevations hold dense wind effected surfaces with large cornices from westerly winds. Sheltered areas and lower elevations hold a widespread melt freeze crust.
The late January interface is buried 10-30 cm deep. It consists of a surface hoar layer found mainly in the north of of the region in sheltered terrain.
The mid January rain crust is now around 20-70 cm deep with weak faceted snow above. In general, this exists on all aspects at lower elevations and then can be found on south facing slopes at higher elevations. In heavily wind scoured areas at treeline and above this crust may even be found on the surface.
The snowpack below is well consolidated, with the early-December crust/facet persistent weak layer buried 100-200 cm deep. It is currently considered dormant. We expect this layer to become active later this season, check out the forecaster blog for more information.
