Variable snowfall amounts are expected on Wednesday. Correspondingly, there may be quite a lot of local variation in avalanche danger.
Summary
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain for the entire period
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Moderate to heavy snow (15-25 cm, mostly in the west). Strong SW winds. Alpine temperature near -4.Thursday: Light snow. Moderate W winds. Alpine temperature near -14.Friday: Light snow. Light winds. Alpine temperature near -12.
Avalanche Summary
On Monday, skiers triggered several small soft slabs and sluffs on wind-loaded or steep terrain. Explosives testing triggered three large (size 2-3) slabs within the storm snow. On Sunday, a natural cycle to size 2.5 was observed in the Bugaboos on a variety of aspects in the alpine.
Snowpack Summary
Forecast storm snow is expected to create new slabs. Recent storm snow was shifted into reactive slabs by strong SW-NE winds on Monday. In some areas, the new snow was sluffing fast and far. Deep storm slabs which formed last week are slowly gaining strength. Cornices are large. A weak layer of surface hoar and/or a crust sits about 50-120 cm below the surface. It’s of most concern at alpine and treeline elevations and exhibits variable results in snowpack tests. At low elevations, a supportive crust above this layer means it's difficult to trigger. This layer may linger with ‘low probability/ high consequence’ type character. Testing for this interface in your local area should help you gain (or lose) confidence before committing to aggressive terrain. A facet/crust layer sits at the base of the snowpack in some places.
pgoddard,
Avalanche Canada
