South Columbia

Watch for fresh wind slabs at higher elevations and remember to stick to good travel habits while enjoying the new snow.

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Tuesday

MONDAY: Continued light flurries with another 4-8 cm of new snow, light southwest winds, alpine temperatures around -15 C.TUESDAY: Isolated flurries with 2-4 cm of new snow, light west winds with moderate gusts, alpine temperatures around -15 C.WEDNESDAY: 5-10 cm of new snow, moderate west winds, alpine temperatures around -10 C.

On Sunday, small avalanches in the new snow were reported including natural and skier triggered size 1 wind slabs. A few size 2 natural avalanches were also reported in alpine terrain, potentially releasing on the mid-February interface 30-40 cm deep.

Flurries delivered another 5-15 cm of low density snow on Saturday night, bring recent totals to 20-40 cm (with the largest amounts in the Monashees). A pulse of moderate winds from a variety of directions formed fresh wind slabs at higher elevations. The the mid-February interface is now buried 30-50 cm deep, and is composed of a thick rain crust up to about 1800 m, sun crusts on steep solar aspects, and spotty surface hoar on shaded aspects. This layer could develop into a persistent slab problem once the snow above it settles into a stiffer slab. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and stable.