Avalanche Forecast

Mostly clear overnight with moderate southwest winds and freezing levels down to 1000 metres. Mix of sun and cloud on Friday with scattered convective flurries and daytime freezing levels at 2200 metres. A strong ridge develops on Saturday bringing clear skies, moderate southerly winds and freezing levels up to at least 2500 metres. The ridge gets stronger on Sunday, temperatures and freezing levels sky-rocket to at least 3000 metres.

One small size 1.0 skier controlled wind slab was reported on Wednesday from a steep north aspect in the high alpine. Most commercial operations in the region have closed for the season, and data has become sparse.

The snow surface is currently going through a typical spring melt-freeze cycle on all aspects and at all elevations, except possibly high true-north slopes which could be holding onto cold snow. The strength (thickness) of the surface crust and how quickly it breaks down during the day are important factors to focus on. Watch for new snow releasing as loose wet avalanches when the sun comes out. Thin new wind slabs may be easy to trigger when they are exposed to strong solar radiation. Watch for very warm temperatures developing this weekend.