Incoming snow and winds may drive avalanche danger up early in the week.
Confidence
Poor - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Light snow is expected to begin late Monday and continue on Tuesday. Around 10 cm snow is expected on Wednesday. Ridgetop winds are moderate to strong southerly. The freezing level is expected to hover around 1200 m, rising towards 1600 m on Wednesday.For more details check out avalanche.ca/weather
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack is highly variable across different aspects and elevations. There is anywhere from 30-150 cm on the ground. Previous northerly outflow winds scoured upwind slopes back to a firm crust, and created wind slabs on lee aspects, which are gradually gaining strength. Shallow snowpack areas may be rotten (facetted). Recent warm and sunny conditions in the alpine are likely to leave behind sun/temperature crusts. Forecast incoming storm snow may bond poorly to this cornucopia of surfaces.
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.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.