Avalanche activity is expected to increase Sunday with 10-20 cm of snow and strong winds forecast. It will be a good day to stay on more moderate angled terrain and minimize exposure to steep alpine/ treeline terrain and gullies.
Strong west winds and 10-20 cm of forecast snow will result in fresh wind slabs forming in open areas, and avalanche activity in steep alpine terrain on Sunday. Areas near the continental divide will receive the most snow.
The lower snowpack consists of weak facets and crusts. There is potential for avalanches to step down to this deeper layer as the forecast snow arrives coupled with strong winds.
Strong west winds and between 10-20 cm of new snow are forecast for Saturday night and Sunday with areas near the divide receiving the bulk of the snow. Temperatures will remain mild on Sunday and slowly start to cool on Monday as clear cold weather moves in for the week.
Wind slabs will continue to build overnight with new snow and strong SW winds. 15-30 cm of faceted snow sits over a melt freeze crust from early November. This crust is present to ~2400 m. Below this crust the snowpack is generally weak facets to ground. Treeline snow depths range from 40-80 cm, with up to 110 cm in wind loaded alpine areas.
No new avalanches reported on Saturday but observations were limited. Friday some loose dry avalanches in steep, cross loaded gullies on Observation Peak, and a couple of smaller wind slabs from steep ridge tops in the same area were reported between size 1-2. We expect avalanche activity to increase on Sunday with the new snow and strong winds.
