Avalanche Forecast

A wide spread avalanche cycle to Sz 3.5 noted today on a road patrol along the spray. Almost every avalanche path has ran full path, along with some fresh timber being torn out along trim lines. Most avalanches started as dry snow up high and as it gained mass and lost elevation started to gouge to ground and became wet.

20-30cm of wet storm snow now sits atop a rain soaked snowpack up to 2200m. Previous wind has created widespread wind slabs at upper elevations. Persistent weak layers down 20 to 80cm are still a concern and these have produced sporadic avalanche activity over the past week. And of course, who could forget about the November facets/depth hoar! Alive and well, this deep persistent problem is likely to become active with the incoming rain, warm temperatures and possibly heavy accumulations at upper elevations..

Tuesday night will see more flurries and a low of -11.

Wednesday the storm continues with a forecasted additional 22cm of snow and day time highs of -8. light east winds. Freezing levels will slightly drop to 1600m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be aware of the potential for large, deep avalanches to run full path or even longer.
• In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
• Avoid all avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.