Mt. Field, Mt Dennis and Mt. Stephen avalanche closure zones are CLOSED on Wednesday, March 19th.
The sun is forecast to come out on Wednesday and this might increase the danger on solar aspects. Don't expose yourself to avalanche terrain, especially if the sun is out and warming the slopes!
A 60-100 cm slab overlies mid-pack facets. We have limited observations from this zone since the storm, but this layer seems less reactive in Little Yoho than in areas further east. Caution is advised as this layer needs time to stabilize: avoid starting zones and be very wary of overhead hazard.
If the sun is out, the snow will warm quickly and loose wet avalanches will start to run. These could be a trigger for the deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
No new avalanches observed in Little Yoho, however in neighboring BYK:
A group digging a snowpit in low angle terrain with no overhead exposure on Observation Peak today felt a whumph that remote triggered 5-6 avalanches up to size 2.5 in the cirque around them. This remote trigger with large propagation highlights the dangerous snowpack conditions we are currently in.
At treeline, ~70-100cm of snow overlies the Jan. 30th / Feb. 22nd drought layers. This layer is ~ 20-30 cm of facetted crystals that are weaker than the snowpack above and have been reactive in snowpack tests and with avalanches in the last 10 days. Average snowpack depths at treeline are ~ 200cm
A ridge of high pressure is over us and will bring sun on Wednesday. Temperatures will remain seasonal, between (-1 and -10) except in the direct sun where it will warm up fast. Alpine winds will be moderate from the SW.
On Thursday, a series of systems start to move in bringing light snow. Friday we should see a bigger system with 5-10 cm forecast by Saturday AM.
