Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations

A dry ridge of high pressure continues to dominate the weather pattern over western Canada and is not forecast to move out of the area until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.  In the meantime, an above-freezing layer (AFL) of air persists in the region between 1500 and 3000etres bringing temperatures in that elevation band to as high as +7°c., with its effect more pronounced on solar aspects.  Arctic air pooling in the valley bottoms will keep the temperatures well below freezing until the next storm system flushes out the cold air.

Loose snow sluffing in steep north facing terrain has been reported. No reports of wind slab avalanche activity from yesterday. Some sluffing in steep south facing terrain.

The snowpack is extremely variable at this time. Wind scoured north facing slopes exist at treeline and above from the recent strong winds associated with the arctic front. South facing slopes have wind slabs at tree line and above and may be hiding surface hoar from the previous spell of cold clear weather. Surface facetting has been observed in the region as a result of the recent cold weather and clear skies, and surface hoar up to 20mm has been reported in sheltered locations below treeline! There are a number of surface hoar layers now buried in the snowpack, but at present they appear to be unreactive, the most recent having been buried on Nov 24th. In shallow snowpack areas, especially on northern aspects, there may be a weak facetted layer at the base of the snowpack. Recent warming at upper elevations will change the snowpack on all aspects, and especially those facing to the south. Expect suncrust on all solar aspects