Reactive wind slabs may exist at upper elevations and continue to form throughout the day.
Be cautious as you transition into wind-affected terrain and avoid freshly wind-loaded areas.
Expect to find freshly wind-loaded features that may be reactive to human triggers as snowfall and southwest winds create wind slabs in lee features in the alpine and treeline.
Active weather continues, with a series of frontal systems moving inland bringing light amounts of new snow.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with light snowfall, trace accumulation. Moderate to strong southwesterly winds. Freezing level 1200 m.
SATURDAY: Snowing, trace to 5 cm of accumulation. Moderate to strong southwesterly winds. Freezing level rising to 2000 m, dropping to 1000 m overnight.
SUNDAY: Snowing, trace to 5 cm of accumulation. Moderate to strong westerly winds easing in the afternoon. Freezing level rising to 1500 m, dropping to 500 m overnight.
MONDAY: Cloudy with light flurries. Moderate southwesterly winds. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.
A few large wind slab avalanches occurred in alpine terrain on Tuesday (size 2 to 3), otherwise, avalanche activity since last weekend has been limited to small wind slab and dry loose avalanches (size 1).
Strong southwest wind has impacted surface snow conditions at upper elevations, while the surface is moist and crusty below 1800 m. The AvCan field team describes these variable surface conditions at York on Wednesday. The upper snowpack contains several crust layers, and the snow is well bonded to these crusts.
