Watch for wind slabs around ridgelines and mid slope rollovers. A layer of buried surface hoar may increase reactivity, don't let it surprise you.
While winds have varied throughout this region - slabs are most likely to be found on east and north facing slopes. Greatest reactivity will be found where slabs sit over surface hoar.
Reports indicate a natural avalanche cycle occurred in steep, unsupported alpine terrain features during the most recent storm in the Sentinel area. Wet avalanches were observed at treeline and below.
Reactivity is expected to linger in wind affected features.
Please continue to submit MIN reports and support your backcountry community.
At higher elevations winds are expected to have redistributed recent snowfall into deeper slabs on north and east facing terrain features. A layer of surface hoar can be found around 30-50 cm deep.
A crust with sugary facets beneath it can be found just above the ground. The snowpack is still shallow for this time of year. Average snowpack depths at treeline range from 65 to 90 cm.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, westerly winds 10-20 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -7 °C.
Friday
Mostly cloudy, 2 cm of snowfall possible. Westerly winds increase to 50 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -7 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with around 5 cm of snow. Southwest winds, 70 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -6 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with 5-10 cm of snow. Strong westerly winds ease over the day. Freezing levels rise to 1200 m by afternoon. Treeline temperatures around -2 °C
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
