High pressure and sunny skies in the forecast for the remainder of the week.
If venturing into the alpine, watch for lingering pockets of wind slab.
Wind has varied in direction in the previous week so wind slabs may be found on all aspects. After Wednesday's strong northeast winds, watch for newly formed wind slabs, especially on south and west aspects in the alpine.
Wednesday Night: Sky clearing, strong northeast wind gradually easing through the night, alpine temperature -14 C.
Thursday: Clear, light to moderate northeast wind, alpine high -10 C.
Friday: Clear, light to moderate northeast wind, alpine high -6 C.
Saturday: Clear, light northeast wind, alpine high -4 C.
We haven't received any reports of recent avalanche activity but field observations are very limited right now. Possible locations where avalanches could be triggered include near ridge tops and on slopes where the wind has deposited blowing snow. Early season avalanches can most easily propagate and run in areas where the underlying ground is smooth, such as on glaciers, rock slabs, scree slopes, or grassy slopes.
If you see anything while out in the field, please consider sharing that information with us and fellow recreationists via the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
Strong northeast winds on Wednesday may have blown around the recent snow at higher elevations. This snow overlies a hard melt-freeze crust or, at lower elevations, previously bare ground. Observations from tree line elevations in the south of the region indicate a thin snowpack, around 50 cm deep mainly comprised of recent storm snow that has been well preserved by cold temperatures. It's still early season and the snow pack remains quite thin so watch out for stumps, logs, rocks and open creeks.
