It'll be smooth, but cold sailing for Santa and his hooved helpers tonight. His beacon has been checked and he's on his way. Tomorrow looks like a beautiful day to get out and enjoy Christmas. Merry Christmas and happy Holidays!
Wind direction and speed will determine how big this problem gets. Keep an eye out for freshly loaded pockets. A wavy snow surface is the give away for new slabs.
Be mindful of the weak layers towards the base of the snowpack. Thin rocky areas may propagate out to thicker areas.
Nothing was noted today.
Given the quick cooling, alpine wind slabs have stiffened up a bit which will make them slightly more sensitive for the day or so. Where untouched by wind, the recent storm snow has had enough time to improve its bond and stick to the underlying surface. There is talk of winds arriving tomorrow which could build new wind slabs. If that's the case, look for plumes coming off ridges and summits as a hint for where they'll be. And what about the crust you ask? In the short term it will continue to help us by bridging the good and the bad layers. But as time goes on, and the cold sinks into the snow, expect unstable facets to develop above the crust. This will happen in shady areas first. We probably have some time on our hands before this happens, but it should be on every climber and skier's radar. No snowpack summary is complete without a quick blurb about the deeper, basal problems. Depth hoar (extremely loose snow), is out there lurking at the bottom. Thick to thin transitional areas are the likely places for us to disturb it and cause a big avalanche.
Whoever ordered the blue skies for their Christmas gift must have an in with Santa. No coal for that kid. Like today, tomorrow will be clear and blue for the entire day. The morning will be chilly at -18 or so, but expect that to perk up to -9 by mid afternoon. The only blemish on the day will be a chilly alpine wind from the SW. This pattern will take up to mid morning on the 26th.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
