Early season hazards just got a lot harder to see. Higher up, watch for signs of slab formation as you reach elevations where all our new snow sits on a smooth surface.
With lots of new low density snow around and light snowfall continuing, there is an ample supply of snow for new wind slabs to form. Slab formation will be limited at lower elevations where the snow surface becomes moist.
Where it hasn't formed a slab, deep accumulations of unconsolidated storm snow may present a dry loose avalanche hazard on steep slopes.
We don't have reports from the storm yet, but it's safe to assume a natural avalanche cycle took place at its height. This would have been limited to alpine and some treeline terrain where previous coverage provided a smooth bed surface for avalanches.
We look forward to your MIN reports from checking out the snow!
Thursday's storm should bring 40 to 70 cm of new snow before winding down to light flurries. In the alpine and some treeline areas, this roughly doubles the pre-storm snowpack, which consisted of 20 - 50 cm of rain-saturated snow capped by crust. Below about 1400 m, the new snow has mainly buried vegetation (especially in the forest) and patchy coverage open areas. It's a start!
Early season hazards now buried will be an ongoing concern until settlement begins to provide a firmer snow surface and until they are buried by more snow.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy with easing flurries bringing about 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level falls to 700 m.
Friday
Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 800 m.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with flurries bringing 10 to 15 cm of new snow, including overnight amounts. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 900 m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with continuing flurries bringing 10 to 20 cm of new snow, including overnight amounts. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level reaching 1200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
