The storm may have passed but instabilities will linger with 2 buried weak layers present. Large avalanches are still possible as the sun pokes out for the first time. Watch your exposure to overhead hazard.
Weather Forecast
A high pressure ridge has set up over the interior keeping things cold and dry as Arctic air pushes south. Lingering flurries today with clearing and north westerly winds. This is expected to last into next week.
Snowpack Summary
120cm of storm snow has fallen over The Nov 21 surface hoar/sun crust layer now down ~ 90 and Nov 9 rain crust down ~110cm. Large whoomphing and cracking were observed yesterday and prior to the storm between specially 1600 and 2000m. Cold temperatures have likely tightened up the snowpack where it had been rained on.
Avalanche Summary
A fresh size 3.0 came down this morning along the highway. Natural avalanche cycle yesterday morning produced avalanches that began dry but ended moist up to size 3.5 along the highway in all major paths. Avalanche control yesterday produced large avalanches to size 3.5. Natural activity tapered off as the temperatures cooled down later in the day.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
Problems
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.
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.