North Columbia

Change is finally underway as the first in a series of storms arrives Sunday night. Light snowfall and strong alpine winds are expected to scatter new wind slabs around the alpine for Monday.

High -

Sunday night: Cloudy with flurries bringing 4-8 cm of new snow. Light southwest winds increasing to strong in the alpine.Monday: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing another 3-5 cm of new snow. Mainly light southwest winds, increasing in the evening. Alpine high temperatures around -7.Tuesday: Cloudy with Flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of new snow, increasing overnight. Moderate south winds, increasing to strong or extreme southwest overnight. Alpine high temperatures around -7.Wednesday: Cloudy with easing flurries with another 2-4 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong west winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9.

No new avalanches have been reported in the region.

Increasing southwest winds and light new snow amounts have likely begun to form new wind slabs along north aspects. Beneath the surface, the snowpack is generally stable right now, but there is a weak layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals down about 30-50 cm that may coexist with a sun crust on steeper south facing slopes. The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. Recent snowpack tests in the region suggest that this layer may be most problematic in areas where the surface hoar is sitting on the sun crust. This combination will most likely be found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. Steep, rocky, alpine terrain with a shallow snowpack would be the most likely areas to trigger this layer. It would likely take a large load such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.