Watch for thin wind slabs in the alpine that could be problematic, especially in technical terrain.
Weather Forecast
The ridge continues to dominate the weather pattern Wednesday. On Thursday a storm impacts the North Coast, but its not expected to have much effect on the South Coast. Wednesday: Clear skies. Light NW winds at treeline, Moderate NW winds at ridgetop. Freezing level rising to 1500m, returning to 900m overnight. No significant precipitation. Thursday: Broken cloud cover. Light W/NW winds at treeline, Moderate NW winds at ridgetop. Freezing level rising to 1700m, remaining at 1700m Thursday night. No significant precipitation. Friday: Broken cloud cover. Light W winds at treeline, moderate W winds at ridgetop. Freezing level holding at 1800m. No significant precipitation.
Avalanche Summary
A skier was involved in a small wind slab avalanche on a S/SE facing alpine feature on Saturday. See more here: https://bit.ly/1BQ4JtP No other avalanche activity to report from Saturday/Sunday/Monday.
Snowpack Summary
North and west winds (mainly from the north) have created isolated stiff wind slabs 5 to 10cm thick on lee slopes. On other slopes you may find tired old wind slabs, a sun crust on all solar aspects, surface hoar, surface facets, and/or up to 5 cm of soft snow over a widespread supportive rain crust in wind sheltered areas. The snowpack is generally strong and well settled. However, large cornices may become weak with daytime warming.
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.