Storm snow has slowly increased the load on a buried weak layer.
Expect reactive storm slabs where there is more than 20 cm of snow over surface hoar or crusts.
Low density storm snow has incrementally loaded a weak layer buried in late January. Where storm snow amounts are greater than 20 cm, storm slabs are possible, elsewhere dry loose is more likely.
On Tuesday there was a size 2 explosives triggered storm snow avalanche, 10 to 30 cm deep on a northerly aspect. On Monday, several dry loose size 1 to 1.5 avalanches were reported.
Going forward, low density storm snow will likely release as dry loose avalanches, slab formation is possible in areas that receive over 20 cm of storm snow.
10 to 20 cm of low density storm storm, continues to bury a weak layers in the upper snowpack.
Weak layer depths and distribution are variable, but there are two prominent layers:
A facet/crust layer buried at the end of January is down roughly 30 to 50 cm.
A surface hoar/crust layer buried early to mid February depending on location is down 15 to 20 cm.
Avalanche activity on these layers has been limited and is generally small with releases where wind loading has buried them slightly deeper.
Cutbanks and sheltered below treeline terrain are suspect places to trigger these layers where they are buried over 30 cm deep.
Below this, the mid and lower snowpack are well settled with several layers of crust
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. 1 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Thursday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 15-25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Friday
Mostly sunny. 10-20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.
Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 15-30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
