Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

SUNDAY: Snow starting in the morning with about 10 cm by the afternoon around Whistler and more towards Squamish, strong southwest winds, freezing level dropping to about 1200 m with alpine temperatures around -2 C.MONDAY: Cloudy, light west winds, freezing level around 800 m with alpine temperatures around -5 C.TUESDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods, moderate northeast winds, alpine temperatures around -12 C.

Size 1 wind slabs have been reactive to skier triggers in steep chutes and gullies. Recent explosive cornice control has produced refrigerator size chunks that did not trigger any avalanches on the slopes below. On Sunday, strong winds and light flurries will form fresh wind slabs in exposed areas.

Expect strong southwest winds and moderate amounts of new snow to form touchy wind slabs on Sunday. The new snow is burying a thin breakable sun crust and isolated pockets of surface hoar, potentially creating a weak interface for wind slabs to propagate along. Old lingering wind slabs may also exist in the immediate lee of ridges. A total of 60-120 cm of settled storm snow now forms our upper snowpack and has generally bonded well to the crust below. The exception may be thin rocky areas. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled but still feature a number of facet and crust layers that warrant long term monitoring.