6 AM UPDATE: 30 cm of new snow arrived overnight. Start with simple terrain and look for signs of instability.
Storm slabs that may slide easily on the hard, smooth crust below.
Snow and wind have eased off, but this recent snow may slide easily on a hard, slick, buried crust until we observe otherwise. Avalanches are expected be larger and more likely on west through north facing (leeward) slopes.
No new avalanches have been reported.
If you are heading into the backcountry, consider sharing your observations and posting a MIN.
30-50 cm of recent snow is settling above a widespread thick and hard crust that exists everywhere except the highest alpine terrain. Before being buried, this crust was reported to be smooth and hard, and the snow above may not stick well to it. So far we have had no reports to confirm this though.
Extreme southwest wind on Tuesday gradually eased to moderate for Thursday, redistributing the storm snow into leeward terrain.
Older crust layers, now buried 100 to 200 cm deep, are no longer a concern, and the lower snowpack is generally strong and bonded.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow, possibly 10 cm or more on the southwestern side of the Coquihalla Summit. 30-50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 20-40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and clouds. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
