A little more snow and rain today on top of the significant amounts we've recently received. Loose avalanches may be easily triggered at lower elevations if precipitation continues as rain.
Weather Forecast
One last system will give us some rain/snow into tonight before dissipating tomorrow and allowing for a ridge high pressure to build . Freezing levels are forecast to rise to 1800m with light amounts of precipitation and light winds. Unsettled weather will persist for Tuesday with cloud, slight cooling and flurries before clearing on Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
5cm of new snow over a varied snowpack depending on elevation. Moist snow in the upper 20cm at 2000m. Moisture content reaches deeper below 1600m. There has been up to 1m of settled storm snow over the Jan 30 layer. This layer formed a crust to 2200m with spotty surface hoar distribution. Jan 15 surface hoar layer is down 100-150cm.
Avalanche Summary
Backcountry users reported hearing avalanches in Connaught yesterday but could not confirm the exact size and location. There is large avalanche debris to the valley bottom in Grizzly slide path in Connaught from the last 48 to 72hrs. Yesterday there were 3 moist natural avalanches, size 2.0 in the highway corridor.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.