New snow, strong winds and warm temperatures continue to drive the hazard up. Stability will improve once colder temperatures return. Until then, choose conservative objectives.
Weather Forecast
For today, an upper level trough will bring light snow flurries with up to 12cm of accumulation above 1800m and rain below. Ridge winds will be moderate SW with occasional gusts to 70km/hr. Light precipitation continues tonight with the approach of an incoming cold front. Freezing levels are expected to drop1300m.
Snowpack Summary
30cm of new snow has buried a variety of surfaces from sun crusts to reactive wind slabs. The upper snowpack is a complex mix of crusts, weak facetted snow and surface hoar. Below 1900m the top 30cm of the snowpack is moist as sits on a supportive crust. Warm overnight temperatures prevented a solid re-freeze of the snow in the valley bottom.
Avalanche Summary
A field team on Grizzly Shoulder heard several natural avalanches occurring up the Connaught Creek drainage as daytime temperatures warmed. While descending Grizzly Shoulder the field team ski cut several loose moist avalanches up to size 2, entraining moist snow and running far and fast on the March 14 crust. Several moist naturals in HWY paths.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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 Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.