Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Friday night: Clear. Strong to extreme northeast winds.Saturday: Mainly sunny. Moderate to strong northeast winds, easing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -13.Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud. Strong northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -17.Monday: Mainly sunny. Moderate to strong northeast winds, easing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -14

No new avalanches have been reported in the region.Our most recent avalanche observations are from Monday. They showed small (size 1) wind slabs releasing naturally from steep, wind loaded pockets in the Howson range.Numerous avalanches were triggered by skiers and naturally within the recent storm snow on the weekend. Check out this MIN report describing widespread slab activity.

Up to 20 cm of new snow fell over the region on Wednesday night and is being redistributed by predominantly northeast winds. The new snow buried 20-40 cm of storm snow from the weekend that became wind-affected early in the week and has since been faceting (becoming sugary) under the influence of cold temperatures. This older, faceting storm snow overlies previously wind-affected snow in the high alpine and a widespread melt-freeze crust elsewhere. In the central and northern parts of the region, it may sit on feathery surface hoar crystals in sheltered terrain at all elevations. In the south of the region, the remainder of the snowpack has been reported as well-settled.Around and north of Hazelton, 50 to 100 cm of snow may overlie two weak layers of surface hoar or sugary faceted grains.