Continue to use caution around large slopes and thin areas where triggering persistent slabs is more likely.
Snowpack tests and a handful of large avalanches over the past week suggest buried weak layers in the top 40-70 cm of the snowpack could produce avalanches. A noticeable trend is these avalanches have occurred in wind-affected terrain. Be careful with your terrain selection and be extra cautious around big slopes and steep convexities.
Thursday night: moderate to strong south winds in the alpine with no new snow expected. Low of -8 at 1600m.
FRIDAY: Storm arrives with cloudy skies and up to 5 cm of snow, strong wind from the southwest, freezing level around 500 m with a high of -3 at 1600m.
SATURDAY: Stormy weather continues with another 5-15cm of snow, strong wind from the southwest. High of -3 at 1600m.
Sunday: some light flurries with light west winds. High of -7 at 1600m.
No notable avalanche activity has been reported in the past few days, but there were some notable avalanches reported over the weekend, including a snowmobile triggered avalanche near Silvern Lake that appeared to occur on a 30-50 cm deep surface hoar layer, and a few size 2-3 slab avalanches triggered by heavy machinery around Kispiox that occurred on 30-70 cm deep layers (on northeast and southeast aspects around treeline). There were also reports of some large (size 2-3) naturally-triggered avalanches over the weekend on wind-loaded slopes below cornices (for example the one shown here).
Wind and warm temperatures have created variable surface conditions with heavily wind-affected snow in open terrain, surface crusts that likely extend into the alpine on south-facing slopes, and pockets of dry snow on some north-facing slopes. These photos from our field team illustrate conditions on Tuesday.
Snowpack tests and recent avalanche activity have consistently found two weak layers that are roughly 30 to 70 cm deep. One is a 30 to 50 cm deep surface hoar layer that is most likely found in sheltered terrain (buried on Jan 19) and the other is a 40 to 70 cm deep layer of faceted snow that is found in wind-affected terrain (buried in early January).
There are currently no concerns about the lower snowpack, although areas with thin snowpacks have weak faceted snow near the ground.
