Forecast snowfall amounts for Friday night and Saturday are highly uncertain. If more than 15cm of snow falls, consider the Avalanche Danger ratings to be too low.
Confidence
Poor - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Forecast snowfall amounts for Friday night and Saturday are in the light to locally moderate range. That said, the collision of the moist southwest flow and the developing cool northwest pattern may deliver enhanced precipitation. Winds on Saturday will be moderate from the southwest switching to northwesterly by mid-day. Freezing levels will descend to valley bottom throughout the day.On Sunday and Monday a dry ridge of high pressure will develop bringing mainly clear skies, light northwest winds and freezing levels at or near valley bottom.
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches have been reported. If you have any observations you'd like to share, please check out the new Mountain Information Network. For details, check out: https://avalanche.ca/blogs/VIYBuScAAJdbdqPz/m-i-n-intro
Snowpack Summary
Light rain from the past week has saturated the upper snowpack at higher elevations, and the entire snowpack below treeline. With forecast cooling, these surfaces will likely exist as new crust.There is at least one, maybe more, problematic layers in the mid and lower snowpack. About 90cm of settled snow overlies a weak layer of facets and crusts which formed during November's dry spell. Not much is known about the reactivity of this layer, nor the slab above it, but I'd assume it exists in most alpine terrain.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.