Avalanche Forecast

High -

Tuesday night: Cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace to 5 cm of new snow. Light southeast winds.

Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with cloud decreasing over the day. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -4 with freezing levels to 1000 metres.

Thursday: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries beginning overnight and bringing about 10 cm of new snow by morning. Light to moderate southwest winds increasing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -6 with freezing levels to 500 metres.

Friday: Mainly cloudy. Light southwest winds becoming southeast. Alpine high temperatures around -4 with freezing levels to 800 metres.

Avalanche activity has been on a decreasing trend since the widespread natural avalanche cycle at the end of last week. The potential for human triggered avalanches remains a concern in recently wind loaded areas at higher elevations.

A new melt-freeze crust has been observed on the surface of sun-exposed aspects. Below it, 50-100 cm of snow from the storm at the end of last week forms the region's upper snowpack above about 1200 metres.

Another crust that formed before the end of the storm can be found down only about 10 cm. It has been observed acting as a bed surface for small point releases.

Collectively, all this recent snow is expected to be forming an increasingly strong bond with the melt-freeze crust present on the previous surface. Below this interface the lower snowpack is well settled and strong.

Below 1200 metres, our recent snow amounts diminish rapidly with elevation and are capped by a melt-freeze crust.

• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.