Enjoy the mild temps and keep your fingers crossed for 10cm on the weekend!
Weather Forecast
Stable mild temperatures, freezing levels remaining below 1500m, pressure dropping towards the weekend, bringing moderate SW winds and light snowfall up to 10cm.
Snowpack Summary
Cold temps have facetted the upper snowpack. Isolated pockets of wind slab in ALP areas sitting on an old snow interface of facets, sun crust, wind effect, or surface hoar. 2 buried crusts extend into the lower limits of the alpine, both are dormant. The upper crust is providing mid-pack strength, but has facets above and below it.
Avalanche Summary
Isolated small loose snow avalanches occurred in steep alpine terrain with today's warming temps. 2 X size 2 naturally triggered slab avalanches observed in the Columbia Icefield Area on steep, cross-loaded gully features on solar aspects in the alpine.
Confidence
Due to the quality of field observations
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.