Recent snowfall amounts have been highly variable across the region with southern areas receiving the highest accumulations. The posted danger ratings are intended to reflect these areas.
Confidence
Fair - Wind speed and direction is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Cold and mostly clear skies are expected for the forecast period as a dry arctic air mass begins to dominate British Columbia. Alpine temperatures are expected to hover around -16.0 with periods of strong northerly winds.
Avalanche Summary
There is no new avalanche activity to report. This most likely reflects the low number of observations rather than actual conditions.
Snowpack Summary
Snowpack depths vary greatly across the region. There is about 70cm of snow at 1600m in the Duffy Lake area. Due to this weekend's storm there is likely more than double that at the same elevation in the Coquihalla area. Terrain below treeline is reported to be mostly below threshold for avalanche activity.Moderate to locally heavy (in the south) accumulations now overlie a generally well settled snowpack. In exposed terrain this new snow will likely exist as a wind slab, especially with strong northerly winds forecast for the next few days. Closer to the base of the snowpack you may find a few crusts which may have associated facets at higher elevations. Observers are not identifying any of these as cause for concern at this time, although they might be worth exploring.
Problems
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.