Windslabs continue to be a problem for human triggering in the alpine and at treeline. The next storm is forecast to start on Friday.
Summary
Confidence
Poor - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Friday
Weather Forecast
Clear overnight with light Southeast winds and alpine temperatures down to about -18. Clear with light Southeast winds and alpine temperatures around -5 on Wednesday. Mix of sun and cloud on Thursday with Southwest winds developing in the evening. Cloudy with strong Southwest winds and snow on Friday.
Avalanche Summary
Snowpack Summary
We have not had much information from this region to start the forecasting season. There was a big rain event at the end of the last storm just before the arctic air moved in and froze everything solid. We don't think that there is any terrain high enough in the region that it would have been spared the rain and subsequent surface crust. There has been a few cm of new light snow on top of this hard surface crust that may have been transported into windslabs from variable changing winds. Deeper down in the snowpack there is a crust from a rain event that happened around November 9th that was also followed by a period of cool and clear weather. There's limited recent info on this weakness so I recommend digging to confirm the existence of the layer, its depth, and to test its strength.
triley,
Avalanche Canada
