Another stormy day today with heavy snowfall and wind loading.Expect natural avalanches today that could run to valley bottom.
Weather Forecast
Another stormy day! Today 20 cms are forecast, with 35km/hr winds from the Southwest. Tonight we can expect another 10-15cm before a break between storms on Monday. Further out the current forecast shows another weather system Tuesday/Wednesday bringing precipitation and high freezing levels.
Snowpack Summary
We received another 14cm of snow in the last 24hrs, bringing the storm total to approx 80cm. The snow pack has almost doubled in the last week and a half! The Halloween crust is the layer we're watching and it's down approx 90cm.The Nov 9th is a hard to find & spotty surface hoar layer in the top 70cm.The snowpack remains shallow below 1700m
Avalanche Summary
Numerous avalanches to size 2 were observed in the highway corridor from very steep terrain on Mt MacDonald and Tupper in the last 48 hrs. There was also avalanche debris reported from steep north facing terrain in Cannaught creek drainage. This increase in avalanche activity can be attributed to recent snow loading and strong winds in the alpine.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
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.
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.