Weather Forecast
We're entering a more active pattern which should persist through the middle of next week.Sun: A ridge of high pressure rebuilds during the day allowing temperatures to cool slightly while winds ease and switch from the SW to NW. A bit of instability from Saturday's storm will produce the odd flurry, but skies should clear in the afternoon. Look for 1500m temps to climb to -4 during the day.Mon/Tue: A few weak systems pass over the region favoring west slopes. Nothing in the flow is particularly well organized, it's the kind of setup that has the potential to bring 2-4 cm a day. Precip totals will be quite variable throughout the region, favoring the west slopes. 1500 m temps: High 0, Low -7
Avalanche Summary
There are isolated reports of Skiers and riders have triggering thin soft windslabs in the alpine up to size 1. New snow sluffing has also been reported.
Snowpack Summary
The new snow layer above the February 09 surface hoar is now about 10-25 cm thick. Some areas have reported that the surface hoar had grown to 50 mm before being buried. Some thin windslab has developed as a result of SW winds Fri/Sat. A melt-freeze crust has developed on solar aspects at all elevations, and on all aspects below about 1400 metres. The mid-pack is generally well settled. There is some concern that large loads like cornices may trigger the Jan. 20th facet layer. Some shallow snowpack areas may continue to have a weak layer of basal facets near the ground.
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.