Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Sunday

Snow starting Saturday afternoon is forecast to continue overnight combined with very strong southerly winds. Expect 15-25 cm by Sunday morning with a chance of enhanced snowfall in the southwest of the region. Continued snowfall should bring another 10-20 cm during the day on Sunday. Snow continuing Sunday night and Monday with moderate southwest winds. Another system is poised to move onto the coast on Tuesday. Freezing levels remaining around 500 metres during the forecast period.

No new natural avalanches reported. Skiers have reported easy to trigger pockets of windslab up to 100 cm deep that have been confined to steep un-supported features and have not run far.

Cold and dry new snow continues to fall in the region. Moderate to strong winds in the alpine have created pockets of windslab that may be up to a metre deep, but have not been propagating long fractures. There may be a slight change in the hardness of the snow down about 50 cm due to temperature changes of individual snowfalls. This may be the most likely depth for shears in snowpack tests. The December 8th crust is down about 100 cm and has been reported to be well bonded. The storm snow is the biggest problem at this time. It may be difficult to forecast when the incremental storm amounts combine to create enough loading over a weakness to result in large avalanches.