Another 10cm is forecast to fall overnight with strong SW winds. Watch for new windslabs building in open terrain.
Weather Forecast
Forecasts are calling for continued SW winds a another 10-12cm of snow to fall overnight and throuhgout the day on Saturday. Highwood pass/Rae saw LOTS of wind so just a heads up if you were thinking about heading that way...
Avalanche Summary
No new slides were observed on Friday but conditions were obscured and looking into the alpine was challenging.
Snowpack Summary
10-15cm of new snow fell overnight and throughout the day on Friday but its not all good news... There were strong SW winds flowing and the new snow and even some of the old snow was rapidly being redistributed onto lee features as well as Saskatchewan. These new windslabs are overlying the Nov 12th melt freeze crust down 30-40cm. So far field tests have shown the bond between this overlying snow and the older snow to be good but that may begin to change as more load is applied. New windslabs should be expected along ridgelines and in any open wind affected 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.