Avalanche Forecast

Thursday night: Becoming cloudy. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing levels remaining near 2000 metres.

Friday: Mainly cloudy with scattered wet flurries bringing about 5 cm of new snow to higher elevations. Light rain below about 1700 metres. Light to moderate southwest winds, potentially strong in the alpine. Alpine high temperatures around 0 with freezing levels to 2000 metres.

Saturday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Light to moderate southwest winds, potentially strong in the alpine. Alpine high temperatures around -4 with freezing levels to 1600 metres.

Sunday: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -4 with freezing levels to 1600 metres.

No new avalanches were reported on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Otherwise, wet loose avalanches in the size 1-2 range have been reported from alpine and treeline elevations over the previous few days. A couple of recent cornice falls from the last week have been noted as well. 

Looking forward, light forecast snow amounts are not expected to be sufficient to form a new wind slab problem. Small wet loose avalanches may be an issue in the limited areas rain falls on dry snow that hasn't already experienced multiple melt-freeze cycles.

Forecast snow and rain will bring a bit of elevation-dependent change to the snow surface on Friday, with a dusting of new snow over wind-affected surfaces expected in the alpine, transitioning to wet flurries and a rain-wetted surface below about 1700 metres.

Reports in advance of our forecast precipitation suggest snow on northerly terrain above 1600 m has so far remained dry. Cornices are large and looming, and glide cracks are increasing in size. Both should be considered unpredictable and given a wide berth.

Around 30 to 50 cm of snow sits above a layer of sugary faceted grains that were buried in mid-February. In some areas, there may be an old layer of feathery surface hoar or facets from late January down 50 to 80 cm deep. There have been no reported avalanches on either of these layers in the region in the last 10 days, but there is always lingering concern that heat added to the snowpack (now from forecast rain) could increase the reactivity of deeper weak layers in isolated areas.

• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation.
• Small avalanches can have serious consequences in extreme terrain. Carefully evaluate your line for wind slab hazard before you commit to it.