I've bumped up the hazard in response to increased winds Monday afternoon. Be advised that wind slabs may have more "bite" on Tuesday than you've seen recently.
Confidence
Fair - Wind effect is extremely variable
Weather Forecast
Synopsis: A very strong ridge of high pressure continues to dominate the weather pattern. The optimist sees a storm in the models next weekend. The realist says its still too early to count on.Tuesday: Sky: Overcast; Freezing Level: Valley Bottom; Precip: Nil Wind: Light, NEWednesday: Sky: Clearing; Freezing Level: Valley Bottom; Precip: Nil Wind: Light, NE, Mod NE at ridgetop.Thursday: Sky: Clear; Freezing Level: Valley Bottom; Precip: Nil Wind: Light, N
Avalanche Summary
Fast moving loose dry avalanches and small wind slabs continued to be sensitive to human triggering Sunday.Deep Persistent Slabs have been removed from the problem portion of the forecast because it's probably a 1:1000 slope event at this time, but they haven't totally gone away. Two large natural avalanches (size3) were observed on a steep south facing alpine feature south of Revelstoke on Saturday.
Snowpack Summary
Snow totals from the last pulse on Wednesday (140129) range from 5 - 20 cm with the greatest accumulations in the south of the region. This snow is faceting quickly in the cold temps. In wind exposed terrain, especially in the alpine, winds continue to form shallow wind slabs that vary wildly with regard to depth, hardness and distribution. These wind slabs should stick around a bit longer than we're normally accustomed to as they are resting on a weak layer that is composed of large grained surface hoar (widespread in most sheltered and shaded areas at all elevations), a sun crust on open south facing slopes, faceted grains (in colder areas or areas with a thinner snowpack), or a combination of any of the above.Most of the snowpack is generally well consolidated. However, in thinner snowpack areas a facet/crust weakness may exist near the bottom of the snowpack. The depth of this layer makes human triggering unlikely, but the consequences could be disastrous. In this low probability, high consequence scenario it's best practice to avoid thin or rocky areas on steep, convex, unsupported slopes.
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.