Carefully assess the snowpack and terrain. While danger is decreasing, lingering instabilities may still exist.
We are uncertain about the distribution and sensitivity of a surface hoar layer buried 40 to 80 cm deep. It may linger on some isolated north and east aspects at higher elevations.
Warm weather on Tuesday and Wednesday triggered numerous wet loose avalanches, mostly size 2. Earlier in the week, a few size 2 wind slab avalanches and cornice failures were also observed.
Although no recent persistent slab avalanches have been reported, this remains the main problem to monitor. The avalanches shown below from Barkerville last week illustrate this problem well.
Light snowfall with northeast winds will create a dusting of soft snow above the wet and settled storm snow from the past week. We expect a frozen crust layer to form in most terrain, except possibly on shaded alpine slopes.
A persistent weak layer from early March, 40 to 80 cm deep, is most likely found as surface hoar on sheltered north and east aspects at treeline and above. Its distribution is variable, and there have been no substantial reports of recent avalanches, but it should still be considered when evaluating slopes.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, except 5 to 15 cm around Kakwa. 50 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Friday
Cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 40 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Sunday
Sunny. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
