Conditions will change throughout the day, continually assess hazards as the day progresses.
Weather Forecast
Clouding over this morning, expecting 5cm at higher elevations and rain in the valley bottom. Freezing level will reach 1500m and winds will be light to moderate from the NW. Probably see the skies clear early tomorrow morning, then the next front will pass over Rogers pass, depositing another 20mm of precipitation by Saturday morning.
Snowpack Summary
A fresh surface crust formed by yesterdays warm temperatures and cool temps overnight exists on all aspects, with 5cm of storm snow at higher elevations. Moist snow may be found below the crust in the top 20cm of the snowpack. Well-settled mid and lower snowpack with the Mar 15 crust complex down 70-90cm on solar aspects.
Avalanche Summary
Sometime last night we had a size 3.5 out of Macdonald Gully #11! Possibly cornice triggered, ran full path into the creek. This avalanche is an outlier compared to the avalanche character we observed yesterday or lack thereof, as avalanche activity has generally tapered off over the last few days with more typical spring-like conditions.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
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.
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.