South Rockies

Good

Synopsis: A ridge of high pressure off the coast of BC should maintain mostly dry conditions and sunny skies through the weekend and into next week. A weak disturbance sliding south through Alberta on Saturday could spread more cloud with a slight chance of flurries. The freezing level should remain near valley bottom and 1400 m. Winds are generally light to moderate from the west-northwest.

There is one new report of a size 1.5 slab avalanche from a steep south aspect in the alpine that appeared to involve the recent storm snow. There were also a few size 1 loose snow avalanches were reported running out of steep headwall features.

Up to 15 cm of recent snowfall has been redistributed into dense or hard wind slabs at higher elevations from variable winds. These accumulations overlie old wind slabs in exposed areas, settled storm snow or spotty surface hoar in more sheltered terrain, and a crust on previously sun-exposed slopes. A variable interface (surface hoar/facets/sun crust) was buried on Jan 23 and is down about 20-40cm. In most locations it now appears to be well bonded. The lower snowpack is generally well-settled. Cornices in the region are reported to be well developed and loom over heavily used slopes. These cornices deserve our respect, especially with clear skies and warming forecast for the weekend.