Dry and mild conditions should persist for at least one more day. Be alert to changing conditions from daytime warming and sunshine.
Weather Forecast
Synopsis: The ridge of high pressure will maintain dry and mild conditions on Wednesday. Freezing levels could climb to a little over 1500 m and ridge winds remain light. Expect more cloud with a chance of flurries on Thursday. The freezing level should drop back to 1000m but some areas could still see an above freezing layer in the alpine. We could see periods of moderate SW winds. The next system appears to arrive on Friday bringing moderate precipitation, rising freezing levels, and strong SW ridge winds.
Avalanche Summary
Several natural wind slab avalanches were reported during and at the end of the recent storm (ending early Monday). On Monday one natural size 3 avalanche and one size 1.5 accidentally triggered avalanche were reported from the South Chilcotin Mountains. These were both wind slabs on northerly aspects near ridge top. Info is limited from the Coquihalla and other southern areas but one observer noticed the deposits of several natural size 2-2.5 slides from the road.
Snowpack Summary
Recent snowfall amounts vary from north to south with an average of 25-35 cm of new snow near the Duffey Lake Road and 40-60 cm in the Cascades (Coquihalla and Allison Pass). Strong W-SW winds created deep and dense wind slabs in wind-affected terrain. The fresh storm and wind slabs overlie a hard crust and/or surface hoar layer. The bond to the crust could be somewhat variable but many observers report a good bond. Where surface hoar is present (possibly above the crust) the storm slab has been more reactive to ski testing on steep unsupported features. Deeper snowpack weaknesses are still on our radar, but seem to be dormant for the time being.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.