Regions
South Coast Inland.
Seek out sheltered snow that hasn't been pressed or redistributed into stiff slabs by recent winds. Deep and unsupported deposits will remain unstable over the short term.
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9 in the north of the region and -5 in the south.Thursday: Cloudy with scattered flurries and 2-5 cm of new snow, increasing overnight. Moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.Friday: Cloudy with scattered flurries and 2-5 cm of new snow. Possible higher accumulations in the south of the region. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing level rising to 1500 metres with alpine temperatures around -1.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported in the region on Monday.Reports from Saturday and Sunday showed recently formed storm slabs reactive to skier traffic and ski cutting, producing numerous small (Size 1, 20-35 cm deep) storm slab and loose dry releases. Observations from the north of the region on Monday showed especially touchy conditions, with numerous soft storm slabs releasing very easily on terrain over 35 degrees.
Snowpack Summary
Monday's continuing storm brought 20-40 cm of new snow to the surface above about 1700 metres with depths that increase with elevation. The greatest accumulations occurred in the south of the region. The snowpack at lower elevations is now capped by a new rain crust and only light new snow amounts. At higher elevations, strong southerly winds have been redistributing the new snow deep deposits and cornices in leeward terrain. Including the new snow, storm snow totals since mid-January have reached about 150 cm.Below this depth, you'll begin find a few crusts that were buried during the first few weeks of January. Due to limited observations, not much is known about the current reactivity of these layers.The lower snowpack includes the more well-documented mid-December crust layer. Persistent slab avalanche activity from the Whistler area late last week suggests that heavy triggers like a large storm slab or cornice release may carry the risk of triggering this layer in isolated terrain - particularly in the north of the region where it has shown prolonged reactivity in snowpack tests.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.