Regions
Northwest Inland.
Forecast new snow and wind will continue to build new wind slabs at higher elevations.
Confidence
Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Friday
Weather Forecast
Freezing at valley bottoms throughout the forecast period. Light snow and moderate southerly winds overnight. Expect 3-5 cm by Thursday morning and another 3-5 cm during the day combined with strong southerly winds. Overcast with flurries on Friday. Light snow with very strong southerly winds on Saturday.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported from the region. This may speak more to a lack of observations rather than actual conditions. I would expect newly formed wind slabs to be sensitive to human triggering for the next few days in high elevation lee terrain.
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.