Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>It was all there today, and becoming more intense as the snow rates and winds increased.</p>
It's getting spooky and dangerous out there, with all the signs of instability. There are multiple layers to trigger avalanches on - sensitive new wind drifts, interfaces within the new storm snow, slick hard crusts on south and westerly facing slopes making good bed surfaces, with weak facets below, weaknesses around a rime crust, and facets near the ground. Any slide triggered in the upper layers on the snow pack could step down to the ground, especially on northwest through easterly facings slopes.
The ground facets are so widely distributed, that there is a potential for avalanches to break out widely, connecting across bowls, gullies and small ridges. Also, slides could pull up onto "flat" or low angle ridge lines as the slabs get stronger - the weak layer is already extends across the tops of the ridges. Remote triggers also likely.
Snowpack
New snow was getting progressively more rimed as the afternoon went on. Strong winds were drifting the snow into denser slabs. Still mostly fist hardness early afternoon, but becoming much more sensitive. Winds were drifting snow down in the mid elevations as well as the upper elevations.