Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain for the entire period
Weather Forecast
Overnight Thursday and Friday: Moderate snowfall on Thursday tapering-off to light on Friday with the possibility of ongoing moderate snowfall in the south of the region / Moderate to locally strong southeast winds / Freezing level at surfaceSaturday: Light snowfall with moderate accumulations in the south of the region / Light southeast winds / Freezing level at surfaceSunday: Light snowfall / Light southeast winds / Freezing level at surface
Avalanche Summary
On Wednesday in the Duffey Lake area and in areas north of Pemberton, there were several new windslabs easily ski cut to size 1.5. Observations have been limited; but it's safe to assume that with forecast wind and snow, the size and reactivity of these fresh wind/storm slabs will increase.
Snowpack Summary
Expect ongoing storm slab and wind slab development. This will add to the variable amounts of low density storm snow that has been shifted by winds into soft slabs in the alpine and at treeline. A layer of surface hoar and stellars buried on Dec 10 exists at treeline in the Duffey Lake area and may be more widespread. Buried down 70-100 cm, you might find a surface hoar layer from late November; however, no recent avalanches have been observed on this layer. A consolidated mid-pack overlies the deeply buried November crust/facet layer, which continues to give occasional sudden planar compression test results. This layer has not been observed in the Coquihalla area.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.