Wind initiated natural avalanche activity could increase Saturday, as Extreme winds dominate the forecast region.
Strong to extreme winds Saturday will add to the wind slab problem at alpine and treeline elevations. Some of these slabs may be sitting over facets and easier to trigger. In thinner snowpack areas, these may initiate deeper layers which can run far.
The midpack Dec. 2 crust and facets is mainly a concern in thinner snowpacks. We saw an increased in reactivity during the recent warm spell. We are uncertain on how the cooling trend will effect the reactivity of this avalanche problem.
A strong Westerly flow will move into the forecast region for the weekend. Extreme Westerly winds will dominate the alpine Saturday. We will see a slight cooling trend, with freezing levels near valley bottom. Overcast skies and light precipe are expected till Monday.
10-20cm of settled storm snow with strong to extreme winds has added to windslabs at treeline and above. These overlie facets in many places. The Dec. 2 crust and facets are anywhere from 130cm deep in the snowpack in thicker parts, and half that depth in thinner snowpack areas such as Mt. Stephen and Mt. Dennis.
Explosive control work near the Field town site Friday produced numerus avalanche to size 3, triggering both wind slabs and the persistent avalanche problem. Along with the explosive control results we observed numerus natural avalanches at all elevations that had run full path over the past 48 hours.
