Regions
Northwest Inland.
If you get out into the mountains this weekend, please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network.
Confidence
Low - Due to the number and quality of field observations
Weather Forecast
The freezing level should remain at or near valley bottoms overnight and during the day Saturday. Expect 3-5 cm during the day Saturday and another 3-5 overnight for Sunday morning. Winds should increase to strong southwest during the overnight snowfall and freezing levels are expected to rise up to 1200 metres. Light snow or rain should continue on Sunday and Monday. The freezing level may drop back to valley bottoms on Sunday night.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported. Thin new storm slabs are expected to develop with forecast snow and wind.
Snowpack Summary
In general, the early season snowpack is shallow and weak. Developing storm slabs are sitting on a mix of crusts and weak facetted crystals or surface hoar in some parts of the region. The southwest of the region sounds like it has the most snow, and probably the most wind with the new snow. We have some reports of a weak facetted base layer in the north of the region where recent temperatures were quite cold during the arctic outbreak. If you get out into the mountains, please submit your observations using the Mountain Information Network.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.