Ongoing flurries and strong winds will keep storm slabs reactive through the weekend. Minimize your exposure to avalanche terrain.
Expect loose snow avalanches in steep sheltered terrain. With lots of unsettled snow in the upper snowpack these could entrain significant mass.
Fresh snow overlies a previously cold and facetted upper snowpack. This new snow will require several days to settle and stabilize.
A warm front passing to the North gives ongoing flurries, warming temps and strong wind.
Tonight: Isolated flurries. Alpine Low -21*C. Strong Southwest ridge winds.
Saturday: Flurries (5cm). High -13*C. Strong SW wind.
Sunday: Flurries (5cm), sunny breaks PM. Low -12*C, High -2*C. Strong W wind.
Monday: Sunny periods, Low -7*C, High -3*C, Mod SW wind.
Up to 65cm of fresh storm snow has fallen, with up to 10 cm more forecast to fall by Saturday evening. New snow, warming temps and strong gusty wind is building fresh slabs over the cold snow below. The Dec 1 crust (now buried up 2m deep) has not been reactive lately, despite having faceted snow above and below it (especially in shallow areas).
A widespread natural and artillery controlled avalanche cycle occurred Friday morning. Avalanches up to size 3 were reaching the valley floor.
A lower elevation (1450m starting zone) slab avalanche ran size 3 on Friday in Mt Revelstoke park, and covered the closed Trans-Canada highway - this occurred in an infrequently active avalanche path.
