Watch for wind slabs on steep upper elevation leeward slopes that were loaded by yesterday's 20 plus Mile hour gusts out of the South/Southwest.
Winds yesterday were strong enough to form a denser layer in the upper snowpack and load Northern aspects. Exposed terrain in the upper elevations are likely wind affected.
Be cautious on slopes steeper than 30 degrees, especially above 7,000 feet, Just below ridges and below cornices, and at mid-slope as they are the most likely spots to trigger wind slabs.
Since around December 12th's Atmospheric River Event, Our snowpack has grown to a depth of 6-7 feet in the upper elevations. Stability tests are showing strength in suspect layers, lacking propagation. At that interface when we look at the facets under a hand lens, the facets are rounding and clustered. We will continue to monitor the strength of this layer.
While this suspect weak layer is getting buried deep in most places, our snowpack is variable throughout the area, and there may be areas that are more sensitive and shallow enough to be affected by the weight of Snowmobilers and skiers.
This information is sponsored by Franklin Building Supply in McCall...thank you for supporting the Payette Avalanche Center!
The snowpack in the West Central Mountains is growing in depth (6-7 feet at 7500ft), and weak layers of crusts and facets are showing (rounding) progress towards stabilization. Our snowpack that formed from October-early December is gone on lower elevation slopes that got hit by a record warmup and Sun. Shadier aspects are still holding that Oct-Dec snow that is between 1-2 feet near the ground.
While our snowpack is trending deeper and stronger, the snowpack is still shallow on South aspects and below 7500 feet there are a lot of hazards lurking just beneath the surface. Above 7, 500 feet there is around 6-7 feet of snow on the ground, and in wind-loaded terrain, some slopes could have around 8-10 feet of snow. Shallow snow is not only easy to hit obstacles in, but it allows skiers and riders to have more effect on buried weak layers.
If you are going to ski or ride a steep upper elevation slope, only expose one person at a time. Snowmobiling off-trail is super high stakes right now with the shallow snow and all of the obstacles needing to be buried....be extra careful.
We would love to have some more information. Let us and others know what you are seeing out there by submitting an observation...It helps us paint a clearer picture...Thanks, and Stay Safe!
