Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

SUNDAY: partly cloudy with flurries starting in the afternoon, up to 5cm expected overnight, moderate southwesterly winds, freezing level of 1000m. MONDAY: lingering flurries with sunny breaks, moderate northwest winds, freezing level of 1000m. TUESDAY: mainly sunny, light south east winds, freezing level of 800m.

No new avalanches have been reported recently although I suspect wind slabs are still touchy. If the sun comes out, natural avalanches are possible on steep south facing terrain features. In the far north, deeply buried persistent weak layers may still be reactive to large triggers such as a small avalanche stepping down or a cornice failure.

Settling storm snow overlies a melt freeze crust buried on February 12th that extends up to around 2000m elevation. The upper snowpack is reported to be bonding well to this crust. Moist snow can be found at lower elevations and on solar aspects. Recent wind has redistributed the surface snow at higher elevations forming wind slabs in lee features. The early January surface hoar/facet layer is down around 1 meter and remains a concern. This layer seems the most reactive in the north of the region but may still be a problem in the south as well. Shallow snowpack areas in the east and north of the region have a weak base layer of facetted snow on or just above the ground.