Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Thursday

Thusrday during the day is expected to be mostly dry, with light southwest winds and treeline temperatures around -12C. New snow is expected to start late on Thursday and continue overnight bringing around 15-20 cm of low density snow by Friday morning. A further 5-10 cm is expected through the day on Friday acompanied by 40-60 km/h southwest ridgetop winds and treeline temperatures rising to around -4C in the afternoon. On Saturday, light snow (2-5 cm) is expected with light southwest winds and treeline temperatures around -5C.

Only sluffing of the new snow in steep terrain has been reported since the weekend.

Recent light snowfall has added around 10 cm or so to the previous storm's 20-50. This puts around 30-60 cm recent snow sitting above a thick rain crust. Reports indicate wind loading occurred on north aspects during the storm and then subsequently on southern aspects as the wind shifted around to the north. The crust in the upper snowpack can be found as high as 2400m. At treeline elevation it is thick and supportive, and should be capping any deeper weaknesses. The weak layer from early December has recently become inactive, likely due to all the moisture in the snowpack and subsequent settlement and re-freezing.