Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday

The next pulse of moisture looks like it will bring heavier precipitation. Expect about 20-30 cm of snow combined with strong southwest winds and a freezing level near 1600 metres on Sunday night. Snow should taper off by Monday morning with a chance of convective flurries Monday afternoon. The freezing level should drop down to valley bottom by Monday as the wind clocks to the northwest. Tuesday morning should be dry and cool with valley temperatures dropping down to about -10.0 and light northwest winds. Cloudy skies with moderate northwest winds are forecast for Wednesday. The freezing level should rise to about 1200 metres.

Reports of a natural moist avalanche cycle in the Coquihalla up to size 3.0 on Saturday. There was a skier accidental avalanche size 2.0 off Vantage Ridge in the Cerise Creek area on Saturday from a NE aspect at 2000 metres that failed down about 20-30 cm.

New windslabs and a storm slab are developing from new snow and strong southwesterly winds. There has been about 40 cm in the Coquihalla and 25cm in the Duffey Lake area in the past few days. A weak layer of buried stellar crystals and/or decomposed and fragmented crystals is now buried by about 50 cm of storm snow. This layer has been giving moderate shears in snowpack tests a few days ago. Warm temperatures have created a moist slab up to about 1700 metres that is sliding naturally and with light additional loads in the Coquihalla area. Moderate shears down 40cm that are showing a sudden planar character on well preserved precipitation particles on a NE aspect at 1900 metres in the Duffey Lake area. Easy shears down 5cm on sun crust on a south-southwest aspect at 1950 metres in the Duffey; storm snow forecast for Sunday night may overload this layer.