Changes to the weather pattern are underway, with warming and trace amounts of new snow for Friday. Over the weekend, expect avalanche danger to rise as a result of up to 40cm of new snow along with wind and warmer temps
An avalanche on Monday near Golden reminds us that even under Moderate/Low danger, small windslabs have consequences
Hard wind slabs exist in alpine lee features. Potential failure planes are weak facet layers, or the Jan 30 layer of facets.Steep solar aspects may produce small wet loose avalanches.With recent cold temperature's surface faceting has occurred, increasing the chance of dry loose facet'lanches
A fatal avalanche that occurred south of Golden on Monday. A small windslab on a north aspect at 2300 m carried one person a long way (1000 m) down a steep, confined gully with many terrain obstacles.
No new avalanches were reported or observed in the Little Yoho region region Thursday.
Previous wide spread wind effect, surface faceting, isolated sun crust and spotty surface hoar growth up to 7mm has been observed on the snow surface. Beneath that, about 25cm of settled snow sits over the Jan 30 weak layer, with ageing wind slabs lingering in isolated areas. Specific wind-exposed terrain may also feature sastrugi. The mid and lower snowpack remains well-settled, with tree-line snow depths ranging from 120cm to 180cm.
Thursday night: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15-35 km/h.
Friday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperature: High -6 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 15 km/h gusting to 50 km/h.
Saturday and Sunday: Periods of snow. Accumulation: 30 cm. Alpine temperature: Low -8 °C, High -5 °C. Ridge wind southwest: 20 km/h gusting to 70 km/h.
