Recent winds have been variable across the region. Pay extra attention in areas showing signs of wind effect e.g. cornices, 'fat' looking slopes, or hollow sounds.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
A cool, dry spell is starting. Expect light northerly winds, a mix of sun and cloud and cool temperatures for the foreseeable future.For more details check out https://avalanche.ca/weather.
Avalanche Summary
Apart from loose sluff and whumpfing, no avalanches have been reported recently.
Snowpack Summary
Wind slabs may be found on any recently wind-affected terrain, especially at alpine and treeline elevations. Whumpfing was observed on Cariboo Mountain yesterday. A couple of storm snow interfaces were also reactive to tests in the upper snowpack. See the great MIN post (blue dot on the map) for more detail. In some sheltered areas, 10-20 cm light dry snow has buried large surface hoar crystals. 20-30 cm settled, dried-out powder lies below this. The mid- and lower snowpack are reportedly well settled. The early December weak layer (about a metre down) is now hard to find and unlikely to be triggered, except with a very heavy trigger. At the base of the snowpack, on high north aspects, basal facets overlie glacial ice.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.