Precipitation on Wednesday is forecast to be rain or wet snow at upper elevations. In the short term this will weaken the surface snow.
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: Periods of snow or rain, accumulation 10-15cm / Light to moderate southwest wind / Alpine temperature 2 / Freezing level 1400 m. FRIDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated wet flurries or rain showers / Light to moderate west wind / Alpine temperature 1 / Freezing level 1300m SATURDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods / Light to moderate west wind / Alpine temperature 2 / Freezing level 1300m
Avalanche Summary
Ski cutting on the North Shore mountains on Monday morning produced widespread size 1 storm slab releases on all aspects within the recent storm snow.
Snowpack Summary
Last week's snow is settled and is bonding to the old surface up to treeline elevations. Alpine areas around Squamish likely received about 60-100 cm of storm snow and more wind last week. In these areas the storm snow is possibly sitting on a mixture of weak grains including a crust on solar aspects and potentially facets/surface hoar on polar aspects. Below the storm snow the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.
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.