UPDATED AT 06:45 AM.
New snow and wind continue to create very dangerous avalanche conditions.
A buried weak layer has been rapidly loaded by the new snow. Slabs failing at this depth will result in large and destructive avalanches.
New snow and strong west winds continue to build touchy storm slabs. Storm slabs have shown wide propagation where they sit over weak surface hoar crystals.
On Wednesday, a couple of skier-triggered slabs size 1.5-2 were reported on west aspects at alpine/treeline elevations. The failure plane was identified as a layer of surface hoar layer beneath the recent storm snow and did not step down to the deeply buried crust.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, natural storm slabs were observed size 2 to 3. Notably, only a few cases of step-downs to the buried crust were noted.
Light snowfall continues to accumulate, bringing storm totals to 30 to 60 cm by the end of the day Friday. Strong winds have been redistributing the new snow at upper elevations. Below 1200 m, the snow surface may be moist, wet or crusty. This MIN describes heavy, wet conditions near Shames on Wednesday.
The recent snow isn't expected to bond well as it sits on a layer of surface hoar, facets, or a thin crust.
A weak layer of surface hoar and facets overlying a crust is buried 60 to 120 cm deep in the southern parts of the region, and up to 200 cm deep in areas north of Stewart. Avalanches failing on this layer will be very large and destructive.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 50 to 80 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1000 to 1300 m.
Friday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Saturday
Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.
Sunday
A mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
