Conservative decision making and disciplined terrain use is the name of the game when these tricky avalanche conditions persist. Check out the new Forecaster Blog @ avalanche.ca.
Summary
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
A weak system will slide down the coast and start to affect the Interior on Saturday bringing mostly light snowfall amounts up to 10 cm. Ridgetop winds will be light-moderate from the west, switching to a northerly flow by Sunday. Alpine temperatures will hover around -15 and drop to -20 later Sunday. Conditions will remain cold and dry through Tuesday.
Avalanche Summary
Natural avalanche activity has tapered off, however; on Thursday an explosive triggered size 2.5 slab avalanche initiated in the mid-December surface hoar and stepped down to the early November rain crust. Yikes! Definitely something to keep on your radar.
Snowpack Summary
Storm snow totals 30-70 cm above a very touchy surface hoar layer that was buried mid-December. Below 2100 m this storm slab sits on a thick, solid crust/ surface hoar combo and has been acting as the perfect sliding layer. This persistent slab remains touchy to the weight of a skier and rider, especially in wind effected areas. A hard rain crust with facets from early November is buried over 1 m down and has recently been reactive with larger loads (explosives and smaller avalanches) especially in the Northern part of the region where the snowpack is thinner.
swerner,
Avalanche Canada
