Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain

Overnight and Thursday: Strong Northwest winds aloft diminishing overnight to moderate by late morning. Freezing levels rising during the day to about 2300 metres. Sunny periods with a chance of high clouds.Friday: Alpine temperatures should drop below freezing overnight if skies remain clear. Freezing level rising to about 2700 metres during the day. Light to moderate Northwest winds.Saturday: Continued warm air at alpine elevations. Light winds and mostly clear skies.

No new avalanches reported. Suspect extreme Westerly winds and warm temperatures have developed hard wind slabs. Areas with snow available for transport may have continued to experience natural wind slab avalanches. Forecast warm temperatures, limited precipitation, and continued very strong winds are expected to develop hard wind slabs and decrease natural avalanche activity. Avalanches that are triggered are expected to be large due to the amount of recent storm snow. Large storm snow avalanches may step down to buried persistent weak layers resulting in very large destructive avalanches.

Expect extensive wind transport and wind slab development in all areas of the region. Recent storm snow varies from 40-70 cm across the region and I suspect that in some alpine areas storm snow has been transported into slabs that are more than a metre thick. Persistent weak layers of buried crusts/facets/surface hoar continue to be a concern, and may have been the failure plane for recent large natural avalanches. Forecast very warm temperatures may result in loose wet avalanches or cornice falls that may trigger the persistent weak layers or the basal depth hoar. Strong solar radiation combined with above freezing temperatures in the alpine could create very touchy triggering on Southerly aspects.