Expect the avalanche hazard to be considerable in areas that receive more then 15cm of new snow.
New wind slabs will likely form throughout Friday night and early Saturday morning. These slabs could be larger and more reactive at Kootenay pass where the greatest snowfall amounts are forecasted.
Several persistent weak layers exist within the snowpack. In the south of the region a supportive crust from early March is bridging these layers making triggering unlikely.
Friday night: 5 to 10cm of new snow expected with moderate southwest winds at ridgetop. Low of -4 at 1500m.
Saturday: cloudy in the morning with around 5cm of snow expected. A mix of sun and cloud in the afternoon. Light southerly winds and freezing levels rising to 1600m.
Sunday: cloudy with light flurries bringing trace amounts of snow and light southwest winds. High of -1 at 1500m.
Monday: stormy with 10cm of new snow expected. Light to moderate southerly winds with a high of -2 at 1500m.
Over the past few days only a couple small skier triggered storm slab avalanches have been reported. These avalanches were all at treeline. No Persistent slab avalanches have been observed since the last weekend.
New snow accompanied by southwest winds will likely form new wind slabs on north and east aspects. In the southern half of the region this overlies a thick and supportive crust at all aspects and elevations from earlier this month. Moist snow will likely be observed below treeline.
A new surface hoar layer has just been buried. It is not yet a concern.
The late February layer sits 20-50 cm deep. It consists of surface hoar crystals in shady, wind-sheltered areas around treeline and a crust on solar aspects. This layer was reactive to human triggers over the weekend in areas where it was not bridged by the above-mentioned crust.
Weak layers from mid-February and late January made up of crusts and/or surface hoar crystals can be found around 60+ cm and 100+ cm deep, respectively.
