Avalanche Forecast

High - The weather pattern is stable

Tuesday: Cloudy with sunny periods and no new snow. Winds light from the northwest. Freezing level to 900 metres with alpine temperatures of -6. Wednesday: Mainly cloudy. Winds light from the west. Freezing level to 700 metres and alpine temperatures of -7. Thursday: A mix of sun and cloud. Winds light from the southwest. Freezing level to 900 metres with alpine temperatures of -6.

A Size 2 natural storm slab avalanche was reported Sunday near Blackcomb. The crown was 50-100cm high, on a west/southwest aspect near 2100m.A Size 2 (from Friday into Saturday) was reported on a north facing alpine feature near Blackcomb: Natural cornice fall triggered a slab below, but it did not step down to deeper layers.

A highly variable 70-140 cm of storm snow now forms our upper snowpack, the product of a storm that rapidly blanketed the region late last week. Wind slabs developed on a range of aspects at exposed higher elevations in the days since the storm. These wind slabs currently form our primary avalanche hazard. Aside from wind slabs, the storm snow has been described as 'right side up' (lower density at the top) and is settling quickly with the aid of continued mild temperatures. Its bond to the varied surfaces below it has been improving, with this interface producing moderate to hard and generally resistant snowpack test results. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled but still feature a number of facet and crust layers that warrant long term monitoring.