Regions
Northwest Inland.
New snow and forecast strong winds will develop new wind slabs in the alpine and at treeline.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Light snow combined with moderate southerly winds overnight. Expect 3-5 cm by Friday morning and another 2-3 cm during the day. Cloudy with flurries on Saturday. Light snow and strong southwest wind Saturday night and Sunday. Freezing level at valley bottoms for the forecast period.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported. Incremental loading should develop thin new wind slabs on lee aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Shallow early season snowpack with 60 cm at treeline in drier areas like Babine Mountain and 100 cm at treeline in more westerly areas like Ashman. Both Tsai creek and Shedin creek snow pillows are well below average and very close to historical minimums. Shallow usually means weak, and cooler temperatures over a shallow and weak snowpack may mean a chance of facetted crystals near the ground. There may be some lingering surface hoar down 20-30 cm in some areas and I suspect that new surface hoar may be primed for burial by the forecast snow on Thursday.
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.