Strong winds and mild temperatures will continue to be the story for the next while. Unfortunately, this may leave us generally poor snow quality.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Saturday: Cloudy with a chance of flurries and sunny breaks. The freezing level is around 1200-1400 m during the day. Ridge winds are moderate to strong from the W-SW. Sunday: Cloudy with light snow overnight and flurries with sunny breaks during the day. The freezing level rises to 1500-1800 m and winds are strong from the SW. Monday: Cloudy with sunny breaks. The freezing level is 2000-2300 m and winds are moderate from the west.
Avalanche Summary
Loose wet activity has been reported throughout the week as a result of warm temperatures and sunshine.
Snowpack Summary
Moist new snow is probably sitting on a melt-freeze crust on southerly aspects and lower elevation terrain. Up higher, strong southwest winds have resulted in widespread wind effect in exposed terrain. Thick, stiff wind slabs can be found on north aspects in the alpine. Sheltered northerly aspects may still be hanging onto dry snow. Cornices have grown significantly. In some areas you may find a supportive crust down 30cm that extends up to around 1900m. A layer of buried surface hoar can be found between 40 and 60cm down and remains a concern west of the Continental Divide. The snowpack rests on a weak crust/facet layer from early December.
pmarshall,
Avalanche Canada
