Avalanche conditions appear to be improving, but it's crucial to stay alert as a buried layer of surface hoar may persist within range of human triggering.
A layer of surface hoar is down 60 to 100 cm in the snowpack. This layer remains concerning where a thick crust is not found above it.
A small, human-triggered, slab avalanche (size 1) stepped down to basal facets in the far west of the region, in an area with a very shallow snowpack ( approximately 20 to 50 cm).
Otherwise, no persistent slab avalanches have been reported since last weekend.
Please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
The upper snowpack is generally well settled, with some lingering wind-affected surfaces in alpine terrain.
The mid-pack contains several layers of note. A combination of surface hoar and a crust exists down 20 to 50 cm. A significant crust from the early December rain event is down roughly 60 cm, while another layer of buried surface hoar may be present down roughly 60 to 100 cm from the surface.
The make-up of the lower snowpack is variable throughout the region, in shallower snowpack areas, basal facets may exist
Wednesday Night
Cloud building overnight with trace precipitation, southwest alpine winds 30 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with no precipitation, southwest alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and cloudy with no precipitation, southeast alpine winds 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -4 °C.
Saturday
Mostly clear with no precipitation, southeast alpine winds 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C with a chance of alpine temperature inversions.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
