Avoid high elevation start zones.
Dense slabby snow formed during the recent stormy weather needs some time to stabilize.
Continued snowfall and strong winds have created dense slabs that may avalanche under the weight of a human. Give these slabs a day or two to stick to the rest of the snowpack after the storm subsides.
On Thursday, our field team observed older, natural wind slab avalanches up to size 2. These were expected to have occurred during an intense period of the storm on Tuesday.Looking forward to Saturday, we expect that humans or snowmobiles could still trigger wind slab avalanches on slopes with deep, wind deposited snow.
Winter arrived suddenly, forming most of the winter snowpack within the last week and a half. Expect to find as much as 1 m of new snow in sheltered terrain below treeline. In wind-exposed terrain, the windward slopes have been scoured and leeward slopes have been loaded with up to 3 m of snow. Strong westerly wind on Friday is expected to have formed new wind slabs, which may remain reactive as moderate winds and light snowfall continue on Saturday.
Friday Night
Cloudy with light snowfall 2-4 cm. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with a chance of flurries. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. 20-30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. 10-20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
