Avalanche hazard is increasing.Avalanches now have the potential to run to valley bottom in places like Connaught Creek.
Weather Forecast
We're in for a stormy weekend! Today 5 cms are forecast, with 25km/hr winds from the Southwest gusting up to 50. Tonight we can expect 7cms of new snow and 25cm on Sunday. Further out the current forecast shows clearing Monday then another weather system Wednesday/Thursday bringing precipitation and high freezing levels
Snowpack Summary
Over of 50 cm of new snow has fallen in the last 48hrs. The snow pack has almost doubled in the last week and a half! The Halloween crust is the prominent layer we're watching and it's down approx 70cm. The November 9th is a hard to find & spotty surface hoar layer that might be found in the top 70cm.The snowpack remains shallow below 1700m
Avalanche Summary
Numerous avalanches to size 2 were observed yesterday in the highway corridor from very steep terrain on Mt MacDonald and Tupper. There was also avalanche debris reported from steep north facing terrain in Cannaught creek drainage. This increase in avalanche activity can be attributed to recent snow loading and strong winds in the alpine.
Confidence
Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.