http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/scond/Cond_E.asp?oID=34810&oPark=100092One more day of avoiding avalanche terrain completely - although if you must travel, go early and be done early. Highs of +15 to +20 are producing avalanches everywhere. Cooler air and clouds return on Saturday.
Weather Forecast
One more day of unseasonal heat on Friday and then the clouds roll in and the temperatures drop (somewhat). Expect overnight lows of only 0 or +1 for Thursday night and then highs between +10 and +15 degrees on Fri (we reached +20 at Bow Summit on Wed!). Saturday will be cloudy with temperatures hovering around 0 and then light snow for Sunday.
Snowpack Summary
On all aspects and elevations except high north, morning surface crusts are deteriorating early in the day and the snowpack is becoming wet with isothermal snow at low elevations. North aspects in alpine areas are holding some dry snow, but the warm air temperatures may have created soft slab conditions overlying weak facets formed in February.
Avalanche Summary
A widespread avalanche cycle continues with mainly large, loose wet avalanches gathering significant mass by pushing wet snow low down in the avalanche paths. Today we observed many avalanches brown with dirt and running to mid-way down the fans of the runout zone. Even runout zone areas should be considered a risk in the afternoons until it cools.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Wet Slabs
Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.