Lizard-Flathead

Strong winds have been forming thin slabs in lee areas at higher elevations. Expect them to remain touchy on Monday.

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Tuesday

Monday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Winds moderate to strong from the west. Freezing level returning to valley bottom with alpine temperatures around -7Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud with scattered flurries bringing approximately 5cm of new snow. Winds light to moderate from the northeast. Alpine temperatures of -9.Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Winds light from the northeast. Alpine temperatures of -15.

No new natural avalanches have been reported, but small pockets of wind slab were found reactive to ski cutting on Saturday. A similar report from Friday details a Size 1 wind slab avalanche triggered by a skier on a northeast facing slope in the north of the region. Our ongoing strong winds can be expected to continue forming thin, reactive slabs while loose snow remains available for transport.

Where it hasn't been blown away by recent strong winds, a dusting of light snow covers settled storm snow from two weeks ago. That storm delivered 20-40 cm of heavy snow with freezing levels up to 1600 m. Along with wind affected surfaces in exposed areas, crusts can be found near the surface on solar aspects at high elevations and on all aspects below 1600 m. The lower snowpack appears to be well settled. There have been isolated reports of surface hoar layers that formed in early January that may still exist about 40 cm deep in sheltered areas. In the First Peak area on Wednesday, the height of snow was 140 cm at an elevation of 1950 metres. The top 50 cm of the snowpack was pencil resistance hard above a softer layer of December facets, and the November crust in this location was 15 cm thick and breaking down into weak faceted crystals.