Pay attention to the wind. If it picks up, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.
There is a lot of loose snow available for transport. If the wind picks up, expect reactive wind slabs to form rapidly in lee areas.
No new avalanches have been reported in the past few days but observations in this region are limited.
If you head out in the backcountry, let us know what you see by submitting a MIN report.
Expect to find 20 to 40 cm of settling snow in sheltered areas and pockets of wind slabs in exposed areas at upper elevations. On sun-affected slopes, soft snow covers a melt-freeze crust.
A layer buried in early December is 50 to 70 cm deep. This layer varies, in the north of the region in sheltered spots it's surface hoar while in the south it's typically a crust.
The lower snowpack is strong and settled south of Highway 1, and potentially weaker and more faceted north of Highway 1.
The snowpack is 100-150 cm deep at treeline.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloud with up to 2 cm of new snow. 5 to 25 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Friday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 10 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with 2 to 10 cm of new snow. 15 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
