Strong sun may rapidly increase avalanche danger on steep solar slopes.
Pay attention to changing conditions and don't let good visibility lure you into dangerous terrain.
New snow accompanied by southeast switching to northwest wind has created slabs on a variety of aspects in wind-loaded terrain.
Strong sun on Saturday may increase the reactivity of storm slabs on steep, sun-affected slopes.
On Friday near Whistler, natural and human-triggered storm slabs were reported from all elevations and aspects up to size 1.5. A size 2 natural was observed on a south-facing aspect near Rainbow Mountain, likely triggered by strong solar radiation.
Keep your guard up on Saturday. Storm slabs are expected to remain reactive to triggering. Natural activity can be expected on steep south-facing terrain during periods of strong sun.
Up to 30 cm of new snow arrived Friday night with strong southeast switching to northwest wind creating wind-affected surfaces and wind slabs on a variety of aspects in exposed terrain.
This new snow overlies a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes, faceted snow or surface hoar in sheltered areas, and wind-affected surfaces in exposed areas.
An otherwise right-side-up snowpack appears to be bonding well to a crust buried 70 to 100 cm deep. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and bonded with no layers of concern.
Friday Night
Mostly clear with valley could. 15 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Saturday
Mostly sunny with valley cloud. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Sunday
Mostly sunny with valley cloud. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Monday
Increasing cloud cover. 20 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature rising to 0 °C. Freezing level rises to 2500 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
