Cariboos

The recent storm snow may still be reactive to human triggering, especially in wind-loaded terrain. Use extra caution at higher elevations where there is no rain crust near the surface.

Low

• We are uncertain due to a limited number of field observations.
• We are uncertain about how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.

On Thursday, the AvCan field team observed wind slabs which had occurred during the week. A natural avalanche cycle occurred between Monday and Friday. Avalanches have been observed on all aspects up to size 3.5. These vary from wet slab and wet loose avalanches at lower elevations, to storm and wind slabs in the alpine.

With the cooling trend this weekend, natural avalanches are not expected, but it may still be possible to trigger avalanches at higher elevations.

10-20 cm of new storm snow on Friday has buried a widespread melt-freeze crust which is expected to have formed everywhere except the high alpine.

Over the past week, higher elevations received up to 50 cm of storm snow which had been redistributed onto north and east aspects by strong winds. At lower elevations, the rain event soaked the upper snowpack.

A thick crust buried earlier in March can be found down 50 to 80 cm at treeline and below. Two more crusts, with facets above them, can be found down 70 to 150 cm. With cooling temperatures, these layers are now expected to be dormant.

The remainder of the snowpack is well settled and bonded.

Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. 1 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Monday
Mostly sunny. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
• Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.
• Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.