Strong wind will maintain dangerous conditions in alpine terrain on Wednesday. Stick to sheltered terrain and be aware that the recent snow may need more time to stabilize.
Watching for blowing snow forming new wind slabs in open terrain. As the wind shifts you may find old hard slabs on all aspects and softer fresh slabs on west and south facing slopes. Picking out where the new snow sits on a smooth surface and where it is anchored in place by rocks may still be tricky.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Clearing skies, 50-70 km/h outflow winds from the northeast, alpine temperatures drop to -12 C.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny, 50 km/h outflow winds from the northeast, alpine temperatures around -10 C.
THURSDAY: Sunny, light wind from the northeast, alpine temperatures around -8 C.
FRIDAY: Sunny, light wind from the northeast, alpine temperatures around -5 C.
While the storms over the weekend likely caused a widespread cycle of natural avalanches, there are few observations at this time of year. Reports from northern parts of the region confirm there were some natural storm slab and wind slab avalanches over the weekend. Looking forward, clearing weather is likely to make travel in the mountains a more inviting prospect, however this is a time to be on high alert in any areas where new snow buried a smooth surface and where winds have formed new slabs. Concern is reduced in areas where the new snow hasn't yet overcome the depth of ground roughness.
Strong wind from the northeast will form new wind slabs on west and south facing slopes at higher elevations. The succession of storms over the weekend delivered much more snow towards the coast than inland (150 mm of precipitation at Shames and only 36 mm at Rosswood). Recent observations from Shames suggest this resulted in about 30 cm of snow at 750 m, 100 cm of snow at 1200 m, and likely over a metre of snow in the high alpine (see this MIN report). Beyond the sheer quantity of new snow (easily tripling the previous snowpack depth), the bond between the new snow and the old crust will remain in question for a few days. Forecast cool temperatures are expected to contribute to a slow bonding process.
