Another pulse of snow will punch through the Pass today. Danger will rise with the increasing intensity of the storm. Once again, the ski hill is looking mighty fine!
Weather Forecast
A heavy pulse of snow is coming our way this morning, with moderate to strong west winds accompanying it. Freezing levels will rise to 1100m with the arrival of this front. A slight break is expected Saturday, with cooling and broken skies, but Saturday night will welcome another strong front with heavy snow, strong winds, and warming. Woohoo!
Snowpack Summary
We've received 70-90cm of storm snow in the last 3 days. It has steadily warmed up during the storm, creating a very touchy upside-down storm slab. This slab sits on a "surface hoar/crust/facet" sandwich that is easily failing in snowpack tests. The mid to lower snowpack is well-settled.
Avalanche Summary
Lots of natural activity along the highway corridor and in the backcountry was observed yesterday. Numerous size 1.5 to 3's were observed, with all failure planes being in the range of 70-90cm deep, and most slides running full path length. Good propagation was noted in the storm slab, as crown-lines zippered across slopes in the start zones.
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.
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.
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.