With the incoming storm expect avalanche danger to rise throughout the day and into tomorrow.
Weather Forecast
Today will be the start of a significant storm as a weather system from the Pacific approaches. We can expect 5cm of snow today with 25-45 km/h winds from the SW and freezing level to 1400m. Overnight and into Tuesday we will see an additional 25-30cm of new snow, sustained winds into the moderate range(gusting to 70 km/h) & freezing level to 1600m
Snowpack Summary
Strong alpine winds have redistributed the 5 cm of new snow that fell overnight and the previous 10-20cm of storm snow that we have received in the last week. Cool temps have kept the near surface crust below treeline intact. Watch for a buried crust on steep solar aspects and isolated patches of surface hoar, both down 20-40cm.
Avalanche Summary
Cool temps have limited the natural activity however, a sz 3 cornice release was observed on the weekend which put debris all over the fan. Saturday there was an accidently triggered avalanche in the Ravens area of the Asulkan Valley. This was a fresh windslab over suncrust in a mid slope cross loaded feature. It ran for 350m & injured the skier.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
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.