New snow and strong wind are starting to bury a surface hoar layer.
Keep an eye out for reactive wind slabs in open terrain features.
Flurries are being transported by strong winds, developing wind slabs. They are expected to be small and confined to immediate lee slopes near ridgelines and high points, but could be reactive where they have formed over surface hoar.
On Saturday, a rider triggered avalanche size 1.5 wind slab was reported in a neighbouring region. This human-triggered avalanche occurred in a steep, open, rocky alpine feature.
Similar conditions may exist in this region as new wind driven snow begins to bury a layer of surface hoar.
A few small, natural cornice falls were observed earlier in the week.
Isolated flurries have deposited 10 to 15 cm of low-density snow (larger amounts in the northern cariboos), which is being redistributed by strong winds.
This new snow overlies a crust, with surface hoar above it, extending to at least 1600 m on all aspects and up to the mountain tops on solar aspects. In the alpine, north-facing aspects have new snow covering dry, wind-affected snow.
Cornices are large and overhanging.
A crust/facet layer from mid-December is still present in the mid-snowpack. Triggering this layer is unlikely, except under large loads or in areas with a thin snowpack.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Monday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 2 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
