Avalanche danger is expected to increase throughout the day with forecast snowfall and strong wind.If you see more than 25 cm of fresh snow expect danger to be HIGH in the alpine
Weak faceted grains have formed above and below a crust that is buried 30 to 60 cm. There is potential for storm slabs to overload this layer, triggering much larger avalanches.
Storm slabs will be building on all aspects, but are expected to be deeper and more reactive on lee northerly and easterly slopes near ridgetops.
On Friday a few small avalanches were triggered by explosive control in the Lizard Range.
This MIN from last Thursday details a skier-triggered avalanche on the crust/facet layer found throughout the region.
With significant snowfall and strong wind in the forecast, the likelihood of both natural and human-triggered avalanches will increase throughout the stormy period.
Up to 30 cm of new snow is expected to accumulate by the end of the day on Sunday. This snow combined with strong southwesterly winds is expected to form reactive storm slabs.
These storm slabs will be covering a sun crust on south and west-facing slopes and at lower, below treeline elevations. On north and east-facing upper-elevation slopes the new snow may be covering old wind slabs.
A widespread crust formed in early February is buried 40 to 80 cm. In some areas, weak faceted grains have formed above and/or below the crust.
Saturday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of new snow, 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, treeline temperature -1 °C, freezing level 1500 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with 5 to 20 cm of snow, 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, treeline temperature -1 °C, freezing level 1500 m.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud with 10 to 20 cm of snow, 20 km/h variable ridgetop wind, treeline temperature -8 °C.
Tuesday
Partly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, 5 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, treeline temperature -15 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
