A rising freezing level will likely keep alpine danger ratings elevated through the week.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Tuesday
Weather Forecast
An upper ridge will build over southern half of the province deflecting a series of incoming fronts to the north. Wednesday will see light precipitation with a freezing level of between 1500 to 2000m. Light rain will spread to the alpine on Thursday and Friday as freezing levels rise to 3000m. Winds will be moderate to strong from the south to southwest through the forecast period.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity over the last couple of days was limited to loose wet avalanches on steep solar aspects. At the height of the storm in the northern portion of the region avalanches ran to size 3 on the early February crust. Wet avalanches below 1950m were also observed. In the southern portion of the region several small glide avalanche releases were observed on rock slabs below treeline.
Snowpack Summary
Last weeks pineapple express delivered 50 to 80cm of snow above 2200m in the north of the region and around 30cm in the southern portion of the region accompanied by moderate to strong winds out of the SW through SE. This snow rests on a supportive rain crust from early February. The bond to this crust continues to strengthen with ongoing warm temperatures. The snow is wet below 2000m and saturated below treeline.
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.
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.