Happy holidays! Don't let your guard down with triggering the deep basal weakness. It remains unpredictable.
Weather Forecast
Expect 5-10cm from Sunday evening into Tuesday with seasonal temperatures. Winds will be light, gusting moderate Westerlies at higher elevations. Unsettled weather the next few days.
Snowpack Summary
The light precipitation amounts this weekend was not enough to alter the snowpack. It remains shallow with a variably distributed deep persistent slab overlying weak basal layers of depth hoar, crusts, and facets. Windslabs of various thicknesses continue to form in lee locations at treeline and above areas. Below treeline remains unsupportive.
Avalanche Summary
Saturday, four slab avalanches size 2.5-3 was observed in the alpine on a West aspect in shallow rocks, and steep unskiable terrain at 2700m running on basal weakness. The avalanches were restricted to a small zone between Boundary peak and Panther falls along the Parkway. Visibility was poor on Sunday.
Confidence
Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.