Avalanche Forecast

Saturday night: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate south winds, increasing in the morning.

Sunday: Possible clear periods in the morning, becoming cloudy with light flurries bringing up to 5 cm of new snow by end of day, continuing overnight. Moderate south winds, shifting southwest and becoming strong at ridgetop. Alpine high temperatures around -4 with freezing levels to 1400 metres.

Monday: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing up to 5 cm of new snow. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.

Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light variable winds. Alpine high temperatures around -7.

Reports from Friday included several new, small (size 1, 20-30 cm deep) ski cut storm slabs as well as observations of numerous recent natural storm slabs. Several more natural large (size 2.5) wet loose avalanches were also observed below 1500 metres.

Looking forward, now that our recent snow has formed a more reliable bond with the old surface, areas of unstable snow should become increasingly limited to recently wind loaded pockets at higher elevations.

Regular snowfall over the past week brought 40-60 cm of snow to the region. Moderate to strong, mainly south winds over the same period redistributed much of this snow in the alpine and upper treeline. Warm temperatures promoted slab formation with each snowfall as well as fairly quick transitions to settlement and bonding of the new snow. Surface snow is now moist or wet from warm temperatures, wet flurries, or rain up to at least 1500 metres.

The layer of surface hoar that we have been tracking since late December, now buried 70 to 130 cm deep, is now considered dormant by professionals in the region. Below this old interface, the lower snowpack is well settled and strong.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect and exposure to wind.