Avalanche Forecast

Fair

A series of week fronts will bring up to 10 cm of new snow to the southern interior over Sunday and Monday before a ridge builds Tuesday with a return to dry conditions. Winds should be light from the southwest to west. Freezing levels will remain at valley bottom.

There was a widespread avalanche cycle earlier in the week that produced numerous large to very large avalanches. Natural activity has now eased, but the present of persistent layers in snow pack suggest that it may be possible for humans to trigger an avalanche.

A melt-freeze crust exists up to around 2200 m, overlying moist snow. At higher elevations, the surface is heavily wind affected. The depth of the mid-January surface hoar is highly variable across the region and it may have been destroyed by warmth at low elevations. Where it does exist, it can be found between 20 and 70 cm below the surface. The mid-December surface hoar layer lies below a strong mid-pack down about 60 to 120cm. Both of these persistent layers have been reactive recently. The mid-November weak layer of crusts and facets can still be found near the bottom of the snowpack. It has been unreactive lately, but should be on your radar in shallow snowpack areas where there may sill be a chance of triggering it.