Things will change very quickly with the wind and new snow. Keep a constant eye out for changing conditions, especially in the alpine. Cornices, spindrift and sluffing will all become a concern. Low elevation rain may pose a threat as well.
Weather Forecast
The snow is coming! Forecasts now agree that a strong low pressure over BC will move far enough east to give the Spray Valley as much as 58 cm of snow by Monday afternoon. Lets hope... Of course the winds will arrive with this storm. The alpine winds will be sustained at 80-110 km/hr for Saturday. Valley bottom winds will be 25-35km/hr. Saturday's high is slightly above zero at 1500m.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches noted today. However the visibility was poor. Spindrift was noted near alpine ridgelines.
Snowpack Summary
Trace amounts of new snow overnight have already combined with the winds to start forming storm slabs at the alpine and upper treeline areas. Cornices are appearing here as well. Near treeline ridges the winds have created a series of thin windslabs that are lamintaed together. Over all this layer 60cm thick. Below this hodge podge of windslabs are the facets from the cold snap awhile back. This interface is obvious and reacted to stability tests. The facet layer goes to ground. The october crust has rotted out and made depth hoar and facets now. It was on the ground and had no structure to it.
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.
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.