Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Monday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Expect northwesterly winds gusting up to 90km/h and temperatures around -10.Tuesday: Mixed skies, with continued chance of flurries. Accumulations may be higher in the extreme south part of the region. Winds turn westerly, remaining strong and gusty before abating in the evening. Temperatures should reach -10.Wednesday: Cloudy with light to locally moderate snowfalls. It is possible that the south end of the region continues to receive more accumulations. Expect moderate southerly winds and temperatures around -6.
Avalanche Summary
Isolated sluffing continues. This issue is magnified by solar radiation if the sun pokes through.
Snowpack Summary
In isolated areas, up to 10cm of new snow has fallen. In areas with northerly winds, the new snow has been transported into small windslabs on south facing terrain (reverse loading).Lots of snow depth and surface condition variability exists in the region. Hard windslabs can still be found on North and East facing terrain due to previous moderate and strong South and West winds. The windward slope are hard pressed and in many locations scoured down to very shallow snow depths (or to rock!). In more sheltered areas, the cold nights have facetted the upper snowpack, leaving the surface snow soft. Surface hoar is growing in these sheltered locations as well. A sun crust has formed on steep South facing slopes.The mid pack is well settled and strong. This overlies one or two crusts (location specific) with the higher crust being as shallow as 70cm below the surface. Concern lingers (unlikely) for triggering a deep slab avalanche in a shallow snowpack area.
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.