Avalanche Forecast

High -

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with moderate westerly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures near -4 and freezing levels rising to 1000 m.Friday: Cloudy with isolated flurries and gusty northwest ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures high of -2 and freezing levels 1300 m. Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud with strong northwest ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures high of -1 and freezing levels rising to 2000 m.

On Tuesday, a few storm slabs were reported up to size 1 from NE-W aspects between 1300 m and 1500 m. Reports indicated that the storm slabs were touchier where there was some wind effect creating a more cohesive slab.

15-30 cm of snow sits above a layer of large surface hoar crystals and sun crust. In areas that have had wind effect the recent snow has been settling into a thin but reactive slab above this weak layer, with enhanced reactivity noted at elevations between 1500-1800 metres. In sheltered areas the snow is faceting and lacks cohesion above this layer which is only reactive as dry loose sluffing. Forecast warmer temperatures will likely change this and promote increased slab properties this weekend. Strong winds associated with the new snow formed reactive wind slabs on leeward slopes at upper elevations. The middle and lower portions of the snowpack are generally well-settled and strong.