Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

SATURDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, light winds and freezing levels around 1300 m.SUNDAY: Cloudy with flurries bringing another 2-5 cm, light southerly winds and freezing levels around 1200 m.MONDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, light winds and freezing levels around 1100 m.

Reports from Thursday and Friday morning include natural and skier triggered 15-60 cm thick storm and wind slab avalanches up to Size 2. One skier-triggered storm slab stepped down to facets buried early February down 70 cm. Other reports include continued natural wet loose avalanche activity up to Size 2.5 at lower elevations. Touchy new storm slabs are sensitive to light triggers and have the potential to step down and trigger persistent slab avalanches.

Expect to find 25-40 cm of fresh snow bonding poorly to buried surface hoar and/or a crust, and blown into deep wind slabs at higher elevations. At lower elevations the snow surface is wet and cohesionless and should soon freeze into a solid crust. Rapidly settling storm snow from last week is still bonding poorly to the previous snow surface from early February, which is now down 60-80 cm and includes a sun crust on steep sun-exposed slopes, faceted snow, as well as surface hoar on sheltered open slopes. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and stable in deeper snowpack areas but may be faceted and weaker in shallower areas. The mid-December surface hoar/facet persistent weakness can now be found down roughly 150 cm. It has become inactive in the south of the region, but may still be lingering in the northern part of the region near Blue River and Valemount.