Northerly winds and periods of convective flurries have created windslabs in the alpine.
Summary
Confidence
Good
Weather Forecast
Cold and clear overnight with moderate northerly winds and freezing down to valley bottoms. Cold and clear on Tuesday with alpine temperatures around -20. Cold and clear on Wednesday with moderate northwest winds in the alpine. Thursday is forecast to be cloudy with a westerly flow and a chance of light precipitation.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
Moderate northerly winds have created some thin windslabs from re-distributing the 5-20 cm of snow that is available for transport at alpine elevations. The surface snow has become facetted due to the cold overnight temperatures, and a new layer of surface hoar has been reported in some areas. Strong solar radiation has resulted in a thin breakable melt-freeze crust on southerly aspects at all elevations. The mid-February crust is reported to be strong, and has been stripped of new snow in many areas by northerly winds. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer (up to 100 cm deep) and the mid-January surface hoar (80-120 cm deep) are generally dormant, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased dramatically. However, triggering may be possible with a large input such as cornice fall, or an avalanche stepping down, especially on slopes that see a lot of sun.
triley,
Avalanche Canada
