Danger is expected to increase with forecast snow and wind. As always, and especially when forecast confidence is low, it's important to supplement this forecast with your own observations. Please post your obs to the MIN.
Weather Forecast
Moderate snowfall is expected for Thursday and Friday with 20-30cm of accumulation each day accompanied by moderate to strong southwesterly alpine winds and freezing levels hovering around 1200 m. Snowfall and winds should ease off with a clearing and cooling trend for Saturday.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanche observations reported.
Snowpack Summary
There is not enough snow yet for avalanches below treeline, but expect to find a metre or more at treeline and above. The upper snowpack is likely moist and heavy with deep wind drifts on leeward slopes. A thick crust is can probably be found down around 50cm at treeline elevations. When traveling in the mountains Id maintain an investigative approach and dig down to test for weak layers before committing to a slope. If you've been in the mountains, please share your observations on our Mountain Information Network.
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.