Be mindful of reactive slabs forming with new snow, the deepest deposits will be in areas loaded by wind. Bump the hazard to Considerable if you find more than 20 cm fresh snow in your riding area.
Around 15 cm flurries is forecast to accumulate by the end of Tuesday. New snow is not expected to bond well with the old surfaces, particularly on the old crust. Expect to find slab reactivity to increase through the day, especially in wind-loaded terrain.
Cornices may be weak and reactive to human triggers. Give them a wide berth when travelling on ridges. They are a significant hazard alone and may produce large slab avalanches as they fall onto the slope below. Cornice falls are more likely when the weather is sunny, warm, or windy.
At treeline and higher, flurries will cover old wind slab and wind press, and up to 20 cm of old snow. This sits on a melt-freeze crust all aspects to 2200 m and mountain tops on solar slopes. Another prominent crust layer is found 40-80 cm deep.
Cornices are very large and exposure to slopes beneath them should be minimized, especially if the weather is sunny, warm, or windy. The snowpack deteriorates rapidly at lower elevations.
MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with flurries, 5-10 cm by morning. Treeline low -8 C. Increasing southeast-southwest wind, 15-30 km/h.
TUESDAY: Cloudy with precipitation, another 5-10 cm by the end of the day with rain below 1500 m. Treeline temperatures rising to -2 C. Wind 15-30 km/h from the northeast.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Treeline temperatures rising to +2 C, freezing level reaching 1700 m. Light wind from the south.
THURSDAY: Partially cloudy, isolated flurries. Treeline temperatures rising to +3 C. Light winds from the southeast.
Avalanche activity in the last week has consisted of large cornice failures on north and east-facing slopes. For the most part, these have not triggered avalanches on the slopes below.
