The recent snow may be easy to move, with the thickest deposits found in steep, lee terrain features.
Weak layers of feathery surface hoar and/or sugary faceted grains may be found above a hard melt-freeze crust around 50 to 100 cm deep. Although avalanche activity hasn't been reported on these weak layers for over a week, the possibility remains that a rider could trigger them, where they exist.
The recent snow may form small slabs, particularly in exposed terrain where the wind could stiffen it. Steep terrain will be the most likely place to get the snow to move. If triggered, the snow may have the potential of pushing riders in committing terrain.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 30 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -6 C.
FRIDAY: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 5 cm, 30 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -5 C, freezing level rising to 1400 m.
SATURDAY: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 15 to 25 cm, 40 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -5 C, freezing level 1400 m.
SUNDAY: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 20 to 40 cm, 40 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -4 C, freezing level 1500 m.
The recent snow was reported as being easy to trigger. A few small storm and wind slab avalanches were also triggered by explosives out of steep northerly terrain at treeline and lower alpine elevations.
Around 10 to 20 cm of recent snow remains soft in sheltered terrain but may have been blown into small wind slabs in exposed terrain from northeast switching to southwest wind. This snow may continue to slide easily, particularly in steep and committing terrain.
In the Lizard Range, a few reports indicate a potential weakness in the snow around 20 to 40 cm deep, potentially on sugary faceted grains around a melt-freeze crust up to an elevation of approximately 1800 m. It remains to be seen if this layer will become an avalanche problem.
Around 50 to 100 cm deep, weak layers of feathery surface hoar and/or faceted grains may overly a hard melt-freeze crust. These layer appears to be bonding in certain areas of the region but remain suspect, where they exist.
