Avalanche danger is rising with incoming snow and strong winds.
Summary
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
5-10 cm snow is expected on Thursday. This is followed by cloudy skies with possible flurries on Friday and Saturday. Strong to gale SW to W winds persist over the next three days. The freezing level is near 1000 m.
Avalanche Summary
A skier triggered an isolated size 1 wind slab in the alpine on Tuesday. Small loose moist avalanches were also observed on steep solar aspects over the last couple of days. Over the weekend, avalanches to size 3 were reported from steep un-skiable south through west facing terrain features and isolated cornice fall produced a few slabs out of extreme terrain. Very thin wind slabs on NE facing alpine features were also observed. Glide cracks are starting to open up too. New snow and wind are likely to create storm slabs and wind slabs which could be triggered naturally, or with the weight of a person.
Snowpack Summary
Incoming snow and strong winds are likely to build wind slabs on lee features, and storm slabs in more sheltered spots. Previous outflow winds created isolated stiff thin wind slabs, which may now be buried under new snow. A variety of other interfaces may be found under the new snow, including a sun crust, an old rain crust, surface hoar, and/or surface facets. At the base of the snowpack, weak facets may be found. Keep an eye out for cornices that could fail.
pgoddard,
Avalanche Canada
