The new snow needs time to become less reactive. If triggered, avalanches could run to valley bottom today.
Weather Forecast
Today will be a lull in the stormy weather we've been seeing. Expect a mix of sun and cloud, with no snow forecasted and freezing levels around 1500m. Wind will be light from the south. A significant storm will affect Roger's Pass Tuesday-Thursday bringing heavy precip and very high freezing levels, up to 2800m on Wednesday!
Snowpack Summary
Another 25cms fell overnight in the Alpine. Thats an average of 20cms's a day for the last 5 days. This recent snow with moderate South winds has built widespread storm slabs. The Halloween crust is the layer we're watching and it's down approx 80-100cm. The snowpack is still very thin below 1700m
Avalanche Summary
In the Highway corridor this morning forecasters observed fresh debris to size 2.5 that ran into avalanche path runouts. There was also a report of a size 3 avalanche off of the East aspect of Grizzly Peak in the Connaught drainage. This increase in avalanche activity can be attributed to recent snow loading and strong winds in the alpine.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems 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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.