Sunny weather returning after a brief storm. Watch for new storm slabs on dry shaded aspects and loose wet snow on solar aspects. Expect natural cornice falls due to sun and daytime warming.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Snow ending overnight or early Friday morning, with cloud breaking up and becoming scattered in the afternoon. Periods of strong solar radiation with freezing levels climbing up to at least 1500 metres and light westerly winds. Expect a good freeze down close to valley bottoms on Saturday morning. Light southwest winds and mostly sunny skies during the day, high cloud developing in the late afternoon. Freezing levels climbing up to 1700 metres. On Sunday, expect mostly cloudy conditions with flurries or light snow by the afternoon.
Avalanche Summary
No new reports of persistent slab avalanches. On Wednesday we had reports of loose wet solar induced activity in most areas up to size to size 2.0, as well as some thin wind slabs in the high alpine on shaded aspects. I suspect that the new storm slab was reactive to human triggering on Thursday. New storm slabs may continue to be triggered on shaded aspects, and storm snow may release as loose wet avalanches on solar aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Forecast new snow and wind is expected to develop new storm slabs above a mix of surfaces, including crusts on solar aspects, moist snow up to treeline, and dry snow or recent wind slabs in the alpine on shaded aspects. Cornices continue to be described as large and fragile. The late February persistent weak layer is an aspect dependant mix of surface hoar, facets and/or a thick crust down around 60 to 110 cm below the snow surface. Commercial operators continue to see hard sudden planar results in snowpack tests, which suggests that wide fracture propagations are possible. New storm loading above the buried persistent weak layer may increase the likelihood of triggering large avalanches.
triley,
Avalanche Canada
