New snow accumulation overnight Monday and through Tuesday combined with moderate to strong winds will continue to promote wind slab development at upper elevations. As a result, wind slabs continue to be the main concern.
Recent snowfall combined with elevated and shifting winds built wind slabs. Be mindful of areas where wind slab and cornice distribution overlap.
Reports from Saturday and Sunday show numerous loose dry avalanche size 1-1.5 running in steep terrain in the alpine and at tree line. There were also a few skier and rider along with naturally triggered storm and wind slab avalanches size 1-1.5 on a variety of aspects in the alpine and at treeline.
Monday Night: Scattered flurries, accumulation 5-10 cm. Moderate west wind. Alpine high temperatures around -10.
Tuesday: Scattered flurries, accumulation 5-10 cm. Moderate to strong west wind. Alpine high temperatures around -6. Freezing level 1000 m
Wednesday: Mix of sun, cloud and isolated flurries. Light west wind. Alpine high temperatures around -5. Freezing level 1100 m
Thursday: Flurries. Light to moderate southwest wind. Alpine high temperatures around -8.
30-60 cm of snow from the last week now overlies older wind-affected snow at high elevations, with about half this amount instead overlying a widespread melt-freeze or rain crust to a variable upper extent of 1700-2400 metres in elevation. Moderate to strong winds have redistributed this new snow onto a variety of aspects.
The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and strong. Although isolated, there are two deeper weak layers that may persist in some areas. A weak layer of surface hoar buried 90 to 170 cm deep may be found across the north of the region while a facet/crust layer from November may be found near the ground in shallower snowpack areas.
