After a cold, sunny break in the weather Wednesday, the winds picked up again Thursday as temperatures warmed up. Watch for increased winds, warming, and likely some precipitation to increase avalanche hazard into the weekend.
Strong winds and the new snow has created pockets of wind slab treeline and above. Watch for wind affected areas in steep terrain while climbing or skiing. The extent of this problem should increase with Friday's winds.
A thin crust exists in the lower snowpack and has been the failure plane for a few skier accidental avalanches in the past 4 days to size 2.0.
Following moderate to strong winds and warming temperatures Thursday, further warming and increased winds are expected Friday. Models vary greatly on the amount of snow we can expect over the next three days. Friday's warm temps may lead to rain near treeline and 2 to 10 cm , while cooling through Saturday should favor snowfall up to 10cm.
20-30 cm fell Nov 3 to 5th in the Bow Summit area with strong winds that produced wind affected snow in the alpine. Treeline snow depths range from 60-70 cm, and up to 110 cm in lee areas. The October crust found close to the ground in some areas has been the failure plane in recent skier involvements.
We Received a third-hand report of a full burial in the Observation Peak area on Sunday afternoon. A separate size 1.0 skier remote also occurred in the same area Tuesday. Explosive work Tuesday on Mt. Stephen triggered 3 thin windslabs in the alpine. One of these stepped down to a create a sz 2.5 slab almost as deep as the glacier ice.
