Rising temperatures, strong winds, and increasing snow load are the perfect recipe for avalanches.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain
Weather Forecast
Cloudy with snow flurries on Wednesday afternoon. 10 to 20 cm's of snow forecast for Thursday at upper elevations. Freezing levels are forecast to be high on Thursday, possibly going above 1500 metres. A brief break in the weather Thursday night, then another 5 to 10cm on Friday, tapering off for the weekend. Moderate to strong SW winds are forecast at ridge top and above.
Avalanche Summary
No reports of rider triggered avalanches from yesterday, but operators are still reporting impressive results with explosives. With the continued moderate to strong South West winds, storm snow is being redistributed on lee features around tree line and above.
Snowpack Summary
Recent snowfall combined with strong ridge top winds have formed slabs at all elevations these past few days. A rain crust formed at the end of the last storm between 1500 and 2000 metres, now has 10 to 20 cm of storm snow resting on it. In some places, storm snow sits on a crust with facets around 90 cm below the surface. These facets may be the remnants of a surface hoar layer formed at the beginning of January. Recent testing has shown this facet layer to be reactive, especially in places with no previous skier or rider activity. It appears to be most prominent at treeline and below, and on all aspects. A melt freeze crust from December buried anywhere from 80 to 130cm across the region is still prominent in the snowpack, but no recent avalanche activity has been reported at this interface. Below this, the snowpack is generally well settled and strong.
bcorrigan,
Avalanche Canada
