Ease into terrain cautiously now that the storm has ended. Don't rule out triggering a storm slab in steeper terrain, but expect avalanche danger to be the greatest in areas where new snow has been redistributed by wind.
80-100 cm of recent storm snow combined strong southwest wind has promoted storm slab development. Watch for solar triggering of recent snow on steep solar aspects during periods of sun.
Tuesday night: Clear periods. Moderate northwest winds.
Wednesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light northwest wind. Alpine temperatures around -10 C.
Thursday: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow, continuing overnight. Light to moderate southwest wind. Alpine temperatures around -8 C.
Friday: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow and new snow totals of 15-25cm. Light to moderate southeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -7.
On Saturday, storm slabs up to size 2.5 and loose dry up to size 2 were observed in the Shames area and the Skeena corridor. Additionally wind slab avalanches up to size 2.5 were reported in Bear Pass area.
Looking forward, our storm snow is expected to form an improving bond with the old surface while our slab problems become increasingly limited to wind-loaded areas.
80-100 cm of recent storm snow has been highly wind affected in the alpine. Expect to find deep wind loaded pockets below ridgetops and in the lee of exposed features.
This storm snow sits on a crust up to treeline and on extensively wind affected surfaces at treeline and above.
The underlying snowpack is well consolidated, with an average depth of around 2 m. Two older layers of surface hoar are now buried 130-180 cm deep. The recent widespread natural storm slab avalanche cycle was a good test of these layers, and there have been no reports of avalanches stepping down to them.
Signs of instability that may be associated with these layers have been observed in isolated areas on low angle terrain below treeline, as detailed in this MIN report.
