Expect storm slabs to remain reactive for the time being.
Use conservative decision-making if you notice signs of instability.
Snowfall amounts that began to accumulate Sunday will continue to be added to. Reactive storm slabs should be expected throughout the day.
Strong southerly wind gusts may start to load lee features in exposed terrain.
A layer of weak facets sits near the base of the snowpack. This layer is most likely to be problematic in steep, wind-loaded terrain where the snowpack depth varies from thick to thin. Especially in the northern part of the region around the Chilcotins, Birkenhead, and Hurley.
Although the time or occurrence is unknown, a natural large size three, wind slab avalanche was observed on Sunday. It started in a cross-loaded feature in the alpine and it may have stepped down to weaker buried layers.
On Saturday there were reports of two wind slab avalanches. One was triggered by a rider and the other one went naturally. These occurred in the alpine on north to northeast aspects and at a depth of 20 to 25 cm.
Since Friday snowfall amounts have totaled to approximately 50 cm. Much of this has been redistributed into wind slabs at treeline and above. It has also built upon the large cornices that have already formed. A sun crust may exist below this new snow on steep solar aspects. In sheltered areas, this new snow will rest on various amounts of low-density snow that fell earlier in the week.
The mid-snowpack is well consolidated.
This is not the case for the lower snowpack. There is a widespread weak layer of large sugary facets at the bottom of the snowpack. Recent avalanche activity on this layer has been confined to northern parts of the region in the Chilcotins. This layer remains a concern in shallow snowpack areas.
Monday Night
Cloudy with some clear periods, 2 cm accumulation, winds southwest 15 to 25 km/h gusting to 55, treeline temperatures -8 °C with freezing levels falling back to the valley bottom.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy, up to 8 cm accumulation to the west, winds southwest 15 to 20 km/h gusting to 40, treeline temperatures -10 to -5 °C with freezing levels reaching 1000 m.
Wednesday
A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds southwest 10 to 15 km/h, treeline temperatures around -5 °C with freezing levels to 1300 m.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, no accumulation, winds southeast 10 km/h, treeline temperatures around -5 °C with freezing levels rising to 1500 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
