New snow and strong southerly winds are building fresh storm slabs at higher elevations. Continually assess how new snow is bonding to old surfaces as storm slabs build through the day.
The next storm arriving Monday night will drop freezing levels to 1500 m and bring 30 mm of precipitation in the form of snow to higher elevations. New snow and strong southerly winds will build fresh storm slabs above a saturated snowpack. Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will increase as snow accumulates throughout the day.
Freezing levels fluctuate between 1500 and 2000 m. Below the freezing line expect to find a sloppy, saturated snowpack. Watch for unstable snow on specific features, when snow is moist or wet. This problem will persist until the snowpack is frozen again.
No notable recent avalanches have been reported in the region. In neighboring regions, several natural wet loose avalanches were reported to size 2.5, and storm slab avalanches were reported to size 2. If you head into the backcountry you will likely see evidence of an avalanche cycle from the weekend.
Please continue to post your observations and photos to the Mountain Information Network.
By Tuesday morning 10 -15 cm of snow overlies saturated surfaces at higher elevations.
As freezing levels drop expect to find a wet snowpack quickly becoming uniform and cohesive. Until then watch for unstable snow on specific features, when snow is moist or wet.
Prior to this weekend's rain event, the snowpack was well settled with treeline depths 100-180 cm.
Monday Night
Cloudy skies. A brief break between storms ends early evening as scattered flurries start up again, 10-20 mm. Ridgeline high temperature +2 C. Southerly winds 25-40 km/hr. Freezing level 1500m rising to 2000 m through the night
Tuesday
Moderate to heavy precip, 20-30 mm. Ridgetop high temperature 0 C. Southerly wind 40 - 60 km/h weakening in the afternoon. Freezing levels fall to 1500 m.
WednesdayScattered flurries, 10 mm. Ridgetop high temperature -4 C. Westerley winds 20-30 km/hr. Freezing levels 500-1000 m.
ThursdayScattered flurries, 10 mm. Ridgeline high temperature -2 C. Southerly wind 40 - 60 km/h weakening in the afternoon. Freezing levels 500-1000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
