Spray - KLakes

Snow and strong winds are in the forecast. If this weather does occur, wind slabs will be sitting on top of a very weak snow pack and be sensitive to triggering.

Nothing observed or reported.

Things might be changing out there. If we do get the 10cm of snow and the continued strong winds, expect new wind slab development. These new wind slabs will be formed on a very weak snowpack that consists of 40-50cm of facets and the buried November 16 surface hoar layer. What does this all mean? Anytime you put a hard layer like a wind slab on top of a weak sliding layer like facets (ball bearings) or surface hoar, expect the possibility of triggering. This will all depend on how much snow will actually arrive and how the wind will play with it all. Approach open terrain with caution. If the wind slabs are thicker or extensive, the hazard could easily go up to Considerable.

Friday is forecasting to get up to 10cm of snow. The winds will continue to be strong from the SW well into Friday with alpine temperatures of -5c. Outlook for the weekend is possibly for a bit more snow. Stay tuned.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
• Ice climbers should be equipped with avalanche safety gear.