If pushing into steeper terrain remember even small avalanches have the potential to step down to deeper weak layers.
Check out the most recent Forecasters Blog, explaining how to manage extreme cold conditions.
Winds are redistributing the recent low-density snow into potentially reactive windslabs. With cold temperatures, windslabs will likely take longer then usual to stabilize and bond to the underlaying surfaces.
Remember that small wind slabs on the surface could scrub down to deeper weak layers in the snowpack, resulting in bigger then expected avalanches.
A crust with weak, facetted snow above and below is buried by roughly 50 to 150 cm of snow. Despite lack of recent avalanche activity, this layer remains a concern, particularly in steep, open terrain.
A few small (size 1) wind slabs were reported on Tuesday in wind-loaded terrain features, triggered by both skiers and explosives. Minor sluffing due to skier traffic in steep terrain has also been observed.
If you head out into the mountains, please share your photos or observations on the Mountain Information Network.
Surface snow is cold, light, and ideal to be redistributed by the wind into drifts and stiff wind slabs. The recent snow overlays a generally well settled upper snowpack.
A few weak layers exist in the mid-snowpack consisting of facets, surface hoar, and crusts.
Total snow depths remain low for December, roughly 90 to 140 cm at treeline and up to 200 cm in the alpine.
Cold arctic air continues to blanket Southwest BC until Thursday night when a warm and wet storm begins to move inland.
Wednesday night
Clear. Temperatures around -20 C and light to moderate northeast winds in the alpine.
Thursday
Sunny with cloud building throughout the day. No precipitation. Temperatures -10 to -20 C and light easterly winds.
Friday
Cloudy with snow, about 10 cm. Temperatures of -5 to -10 C, and moderate to strong southerly winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with heavy snowfall at times. Up to 30 cm. Temperatures around 0 to -5 C and strong south winds in the alpine. Freezing levels rising to roughly 1000m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
