Rising freezing levels and sunny breaks will weaken the surface snow. Danger will increase with the incoming storm on Thursday and Friday.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
WEDNESDAY: Sunny with high clouds in the afternoon, light southwest wind, freezing level rising to around 1800 m.THURSDAY: Flurries increasing throughout the day with 5-10 cm of snow by the afternoon, moderate southwest wind, freezing level rising to around 1200 m.FRIDAY: Another 5-10 cm of snow with freezing level rising to around 1200 m.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported.A MIN report from just outside the region near Squamish (Watersprite Lake) describes a natural size 2 avalanche that failed on a south aspect at 1750 m
(see photo and details here). Also, check out the MCR report from the Sea-to-Sky Gondola
(here) that talks about the strong late winter sun initiating up to size 2 natural avalanches last week.
Snowpack Summary
Isolated flurries are depositing light amounts of new snow throughout the region and sporadic sunny breaks could weaken the surface snow. 50-70 cm of snow from last week is settling and gaining strength. On southerly aspects, the storm snow sits above a sun crust which is a potential layer to monitor.Cornices have formed on many alpine ridgelines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.
