The new snow at treeline and above is suffering from strong west winds and is forming into new thin slabs on top of the old mix of hard and soft slabs so in the short term there will be 'bonding' issues to be aware of.
Weather Forecast
For Friday we can only look forward to some convective flurries and thru the weekend we are looking at only dribs and drabs of new snow that will amount to little. Temps will be in the -8 to -12 range at ridgetop and winds will continue to be strong out of the west.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche activity noted other than some loose dry sluffs from steep rocky alpine terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 14cm of new snow at treeline by Thursday morning BUT it was accompanied by strong westerly winds which have resulted in considerable redistribution of the storm snow and scouring of windward slopes. There was 7cm of new snow in the Smith-Dorrien valley bottom area at the Burstall/Chester trailheads. The same mix of hard and soft slabs will be found in all open terrain. The midpack continues to weaken under the influence of a relatively strong temperature gradient promoting facetting.
Problems
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.