We've had more wind than expected lately. This has, and will continue to dramatically change our snowpack. The avalanche hazard will stay elevated until the wind calms down.
Strong winds have created new slabs at treeline and alpine elevations. These will be sitting on loose facets and could be quite touchy.
The winds today were far stronger than expected. At the moment they are forecasted to be about 30km/hr from the west, but given what we are seeing now, expect that to be much higher. Light flurries and cloud cover are also expected for Saturday. The day time high will be -9.
Winds were much stronger than expected last night. There were numerous loose dry avalanches out of steep alpine terrain last night and early this morning. In confined gullies the flowing snow pulled out slabs from the sidewalls. Up to sz2. There were also some isolated slabs on aprons below large cliffs.
Watching how quickly the wind changed the snow's distribution over night it is quite clear that the cold snap turned our snowpack into sugar...and now the wind is blowing it all away! I'm sort of kidding. Many areas are blown to gravel, or old hard surfaces, but there are still lots of new windslabs out there. These will be sitting on top of facets, and touchy in steep, wind exposed areas. The good news is the deeper layers are still playing along and not failing. But remember, in times of rapid change (like now) its best to let those layers re-gain your trust.
