The winds, picking up last night and throughout the day today, along with the accumulation of snow from the last few small precipitation events, could create reactive wind slabs.
Pay particular attention on lee slopes, and if in doubt, opt for a conservative route.
The snow of the last few days, available for transport, and the moderate westerly winds, make it possible for a skier to trigger a wind slab. The lack of snow in the area could give you very little information and few signs of instability.
No new avalanche activity has been observed or reported.
Please continue to share your observations at [email protected], or with the Mountain Information Network. It helps strengthen our data gathering.
At lower elevations, 5 to 10 cm of low density snow covers the crust from refreezing cycle after the Dec 23rd storm. This crust does not quite support the weight of a skier. As we gain altitude, the crust fades in some places to a slightly denser snow interface, covered by 10 to 20 cm of low density snow. Our tests have shown that the new snow of the last 72 hours is not yet fully bonding to the storm interface. The alpine, exposed to the strong to extreme winds of recent weather events, is generally back to the crust or even bare ground. However, pockets of greater accumulation are found on most aspects, in the alpine and at the treeline.
The average height of the snowpack is still very thin, from about 35 cm at valley bottom to 80 cm - mid-mountains, and extremely variable from place to place.
Despite the fresh snow, the snow cover remains low, especially at lower altitudes. You will have to work a bit to reach the snowier areas, which are, for the moment, below the tree line, at higher altitude.
Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits. The slow rise of a warm front could bring some precipitation for the end of the week. Temperatures will remain cold through Thursday, leaving the freezing level at valley bottom. The freezing level should increase on Friday.
Tuesday evening and night: Cloudy. 2-3 cm of light snow. Wind from the west at 35-45 km/h. Min -15C. Freezing level at valley bottom.
Wednesday: Cloudy. Light precipitation. Westerly winds around 30 km/h, increasing to 50 km/h at higher elevation. Max -15C. Freezing level in the valley.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy. 4 cm of snow. Winds from the west, from 20 to 30 km/h. Max -12C.
Friday: Cloudy. A few centimetres of snow, with a chance of rain (freezing level uncertain at this time). Wind from the south at around 15 km/h. -5C to 0C at midday.
For more details, check out the Chic-Chocs alpine weather forecast.
