Yesterday's storm slab is today's wind slab.
New snow, warming temperatures and increasing winds will promote slab formation. Use caution entering wind affected terrain.
Southwest winds will continue to redeposit new snow into wind slabs in lee areas in the alpine and treeline. Expect larger, and more reactive slabs in areas that received greater snowfall amounts in yesterday's storm.
A noticeable shift in the weather pattern, as warm temperatures embrace the region with continued snowfall throughout the week.
Sunday Overnight: Mainly cloudy and isolated flurries. Alpine high of -2 °C. Ridge wind southwest 35 km/h gusting to 60 km/h. Freezing level at 400 metres.
Monday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Alpine high of -1 °C. Ridge wind southwest 40 km/h gusting to 75 km/h. Freezing level around 1200 metres.
Tuesday: Snowing, up to 10 cm accumulation. Alpine high of -1 °C. Ridge wind south 30 km/h gusting to 55 km/h. Freezing level around 1000 metres.
Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine high of -2 °C. Ridge wind west 30 km/h gusting to 75 km/h. Freezing level around 1200 metres.
Observations have been limited. If you are out in the mountains, let us know what you see by filling out a Mountain Information Network report!
Yesterday's storm brought up to 30 cm in areas west of Smithers, with tapering amounts to the east. Strong southwest winds will continue to redeposit this snow into wind slabs in lee areas in the alpine and treeline.
This storm's 10-30 cm of new snow overlies a previously wind-affected surface comprised of old hard wind slabs, sastrugi, and areas stripped back to the ground or old crusts. Near-surface faceting above the old surface may increase the reactivity of newly formed storm slabs.
The base of the snowpack is composed of crusts and weak faceted grains, particularly in thin snowpack areas. While these layers have generally gone dormant in the region, they still have the possibility of waking up with new snow load or warming, and wind slab avalanches may still have the potential to step down to these deeper layers in isolated areas.
