Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Monday

SUNDAY: Flurries starting in the afternoon, moderate southeast winds increasing throughout the day, alpine temperatures around -10. MONDAY:  5-15 cm of new snow in the north (Duffey Lk road) and 25-30 cm in the south (Coquihalla). Snow continuing with an additional 10-15 cm possible in the south. Moderate south west winds with strong gusts, alpine temperatures around -5. TUESDAY: Clearing in the morning, light northerly winds, alpine temperatures around -12. WEDNESDAY: Sunny with light northerly winds, alpine temperatures around -14.

No new avalanches observed this weekend. Wind slabs were reactive in the Duffey Lake area earlier in the week, including an avalanche involvement reported on the MIN and an explosive triggered wind slab. Be on the lookout for wind loaded pockets where reactive wind slabs may still be lingering.

Up to 5 cm of snow from Friday covers a variable surface with a mix of soft wind slabs, hard wind slabs, sastrugi, faceted snow, sun crust, and even some surface hoar. Last week's winds were primarily from the north, which reverse loaded many terrain features and formed stubborn wind slabs. For low snow areas, such as the northern part of the region, two layers of concern exist. One is a weak layer of snow from mid-December buried approximately 50 cm deep and other is an old rain crust from November buried 80-120 cm deep. Snowpack tests indicate these layers may be possible to trigger in shallow snowpack areas. Elsewhere, these layers are typically much deeper and are considered to be stable.