It is time to make conservative terrain choices, and avoid exposure to overhead hazard.
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Tuesday
Weather Forecast
Overnight and Tuesday: Strong Southwest winds and another 10-15 cms of snow by morning. The next stronger pulse of moisture should start by Tuesday late morning. Expect 15-20 cms with moderate Southerly winds by early evening.Wednesday: Another 15-20 cms with building Southwest winds and freezing levels rising up to about 1500 metres.Thursday: Flurries ending during the day as a ridge of high pressure moves into the region.
Avalanche Summary
Soft slabs are becoming reactive to light additional loads. Expect this problem to continue to become more reactive and result in larger avalanches as the storm slab develops.
Snowpack Summary
Some areas are reporting about 40 cms of storm snow above the surface hoar/surface faceting/sun crusts that were buried on January 4th. Where this slab is thicker, it has become reactive to skiers and riders. This new storm slab is expected to continue to develop due to forecast snow fall amounts. The mid-pack is strong, and deeply buried weak layers have not been reactive.
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.