Hazard is a cautious Moderate. While natural activity is limited, the snowpack is a complex sandwich of buried and new wind slabs overlying a weak fragile mid-pack and base. Careful evaluation is required.
Weather Forecast
Increasing cloudiness over-night and through the day Friday. Overnight temperatures to -21 with slight, but continued warming thought the day and continuing into the weekend. High's expected to be near -10 in the Icefields area with light westerly winds. No precipitation is forecast for the foreseeable future.
Snowpack Summary
Previous HST has again been redistributed by moderate SW winds. Adding more layering to an already seriously complex, very shallow, faceted and weak snowpack. Multiple surface and buried wind slabs overlying a variety of faceted weaknesses to ground.
Avalanche Summary
Helicopter control on Jan 11th produced numerous slab avalanches to size 2.5 in the alpine, mainly wind slab in loaded gulley features. Loose dry activity continues out of steep, rocky terrain and tends to entrain facets on the slopes below.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
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 Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.