Weather Forecast
A ridge of high pressure has rebuilt, clear skies with no snow in the forecast, temps will gradually rise overnight and into Wednesday reaching a high of -12 in the alpine. Light North West winds will shift to moderate from the West on Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
10-15cm of new snow has been redistributed by moderate NW winds into slab on lee and cross loaded features. The new windslab overlies a shallow, faceted and weak snowpack. The Nov. crust can still be found about 30 cm up from ground but is faceting into large depth hoar.
Avalanche Summary
Helicopter control work produced numerous wind slab avalanches to size 2.5 in the alpine, mainly in loaded gulley features. Loose dry activity continues out of steep, rocky terrain and tends to entrain facets on the slopes below.
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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.