Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

It looks like it will cool off this evening as the freezing level drops down to about 1000 metres. Expect another 10-15 cms of new snow above about 1400 metres overnight. Friday should continue to be unsettled with flurries or periods of convective flurries with light to moderate southwest winds. The next big storm is forecast for early Saturday morning. Expect heavy precipitation and strong southeast winds at the beginning of the storm becoming southwest as the system quickly moves through to the northeast. Snow continuing through Sunday with rising freezing levels.

Natural loose wet and wet slab avalanches have been reported below 1800 metres where heavy rain soaked the snowpack. I suspect there are no alpine observations due to poor travel conditions.

Heavy rain up to about 1800 metres during the day has soaked the early season snowpack. Storm slabs have developed in the alpine above a mix of crusts, and old wind hammered surfaces. There has been a lot of change in a short period of time, and this is always a stress on a snowpack, especially a thin early season snowpack. Yesterday we still had a report of buried surface hoar at treeline, and facets found below and above a crust that was buried just below the developing storm slab. Forecast heavy precipitation should help to settle out and bond weak layers in the long term, but conservative terrain use is recommended in the short term.