Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain

Synopsis: THe cold front that tracked through southern BC today was a bit of a let-down for precipitation in the Sea to Sky region.Tonight: Cloudy with flurries, freezing level at valley bottom, ridge top winds from the west, light occasionally moderate.Thursday: Cloudy with sunny periods, no precipitation in the forecast, freezing level around 900 metres, winds light, from the west.Friday: Sunny with some cloudy periods, no precipitation, freezing level around 900 metres, light ridge top winds from the east.Saturday: Cloudy with flurries, trace of precipitation, freezing level around 1100 metres, ridge top winds, light from the south west.

Reports of surface sluffing in steep terrain, several reports of size 1 skier triggered wind slabs, recent natural avalanche cycle up to size 2 to in the storm snow. Moist snow to ridge tops on solar aspects during the day.

Up to 45 cm of recent storm snow is sitting on a variety of layers. A well developed sun crust has formed on solar aspects and, prior to this storm, surface hoar formed on shady, sheltered slopes. At lower elevations, a melt-freeze (or rain) crust can be expected in most areas. Moderate to strong SW winds have formed wind slabs on lee slopesBelow the storm snow, the upper snowpack is generally well settled from the recently warm weather. Two persistent weak layers remain a concern but these problems are becoming more isolated. Before the storm, the early-March crust/facet layer was down roughly 1m and the early Feb. layer is down 1.5m or more. These layers are now deep enough that human-triggering is unlikely, but smaller avalanches or cornices failures have the potential to step down to these layers, and,.... cornices are definitely getting larger these days.Freezing levels have been cycling between valley bottom and 1500-2000m, and low elevation terrain saw significant rain last weekend. The snowpack at lower elevations has been generally stable but wet snow or rain may destabilize the upper layers of the snowpack.