If you have been out in the mountains, please consider reporting your observations to the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
Weather Forecast
Freezing level dropping to valley bottoms overnight. Variable cloud cover across the region, more likely to be clear in the north and east overnight. Overcast with light precipitation on Tuesday combined with light winds in the morning and increasing to moderate southwest in the afternoon. Chance of broken or scattered cloud on Wednesday with a good overnight freeze. The next pulse of stormy weather moving into the region on Wednesday night. Warm, wet, and windy on Thursday.
Avalanche Summary
A few natural avalanches size 2.5 were reported on Sunday. Natural avalanches continued to release down 40-60 cm on Friday up to size 2.5, and on Saturday up to size 3.0. Reports from Thursday that several natural size 2.0 slab avalanches and one size 3.0 storm slab were suspected to have released on the late February surface hoar layer. There was also a report of a size 3.0 avalanche remotely triggered by a skier that was 20 metres away.
Snowpack Summary
Moist snow below 1600 metres should re-freeze overnight developing a crust on all aspects. The recent storm slab is 50-80cm thick and bonding poorly to a crust on previously sun-exposed slopes and surface hoar (February 27th or late February) on shady and sheltered slopes. Thicker and touchier wind slabs are lurking throughout exposed terrain at and above treeline. A couple of sun crusts might exist in the upper 50-70cm on southerly aspects.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.