Yukon

Dangerous avalanche conditions persist as new snow and wind form fresh, reactive wind slabs.

A natural avalanche cycle occurred in the past few days as rain and warm temperatures infiltrated the region. Notable slab avalanches up to size 3 were reported along the Klondike Highway. See this MIN for more details.

Large natural avalanche activity is expected to taper on Friday with cooling temperatures, but new snow will likely form fresh, rider-triggerable wind slabs.

Please consider sharing your observations through the Mountain Information Network.

New snow accumulates atop a moist upper snowpack from rain in the past few days. Strong winds will create heavily wind-affected surfaces and redistribute new snow into fresh wind slabs.

The remainder of the snowpack is generally strong, with some crusts near the base.

Snow depths vary significantly, averaging around 70 to 130 cm at Whitepass.

Thursday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of new snow. 40 to 60 km/h south ridge top wind. Freezing level drops to 1100 m. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 50 to 70 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Saturday

A mix of sun and cloud. 5 to 15 km/h north ridge top wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
• Keep in mind that the high density of wet avalanches can make them destructive.