Light snowfall continues to accumulate snow over a hard crust. Slab avalanches in the new snow are most likely to be triggered in wind loaded terrain features.
Winds blew hard from the southwest then turned northwest leaving exposed areas highly variable. The recent snow sits above a hard crust and could be easily triggered where wind deposits exist.
Saturday night: Light snow, around 5 cm. Freezing level 500 m. Light southwest wind below 1500m, moderate to strong west-northwest wind around 2000 m.
Sunday: Light snow, around 5 cm. Freezing level 1100 m. Light southwest wind increasing to moderate.
Monday: Light snow, around 10 cm. Freezing level 1000 m. Strong southwest winds affecting all elevations.
Tuesday: Flurries. Freezing level 500 m. Light southwest wind.
On Thursday, skier triggered storm slab avalanches size 1-2 were reported on all aspects. The new snow is sitting on a hard rain crust and may remain reactive to human triggers; especially in wind loaded features.
5-10 cm of new snow brings recent snow totals to 20-30 cm on top of a hard rain crust that exists all the way to the tops of the North Shore mountains. These storm slabs are most likely to be reactive where they are wind affected.
The snowpack below the rain crust is well settled and strong in most areas.
Watch North Shore Rescue's latest snowpack update here.
