Avalanche Forecast

High -

Friday: Dry and mostly sunny. Treeline temperatures around -20C. Ridgetop winds 20-30 km/h from the southwest.Saturday: Dry with cloud building in the afternoon. Temperatures around -15 C. Winds 30-40 km/h from the south.Sunday: Flurries. Temperatures around -8C. Winds 30-40 from the southwest.

On Wednesday, a snowmobiler triggered a wind slab avalanche on a southeast aspect at around 2100 m. Several naturally triggered wind slabs to size 2 were noted in exposed terrain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I anticipate ongoing wind slab problems for the rest of this week and into the weekend. In shallow areas like Clemina Creek, it could be possible to trigger a layer of facets buried around 60 cm below the surface.

Recent new snow has been shifted first by southwesterly winds and then by northerly winds. As a result, wind slabs exist on a variety of aspects at upper elevations. These accumulations have covered old, thicker wind slabs from previous wind events. A layer of faceted "sugar snow" and spotty surface hoar which formed during December's cold snap now lies roughly 1 metre below the surface. This layer is now dormant in many areas, but may still be a concern in shallow snowpack parts of the region, particularly around Clemina Creek. I'd continue to investigate this layer before committing to any large, unsupported features. The lower snowpack seems to be generally strong and well settled.