Valentine's day usually sees us transition into a snowier phase of the winter. That timeline seems to be holding true this year. Forecasts are all showing some snow arriving over the next week. Not enough to justify bringing out the wide skis, but enough to at least get out and enjoy a few quiet turns.
This might be premature, but we may see small slabs start to develop. In particular, areas near the divide where localized snow amounts could be more.
No new avalanches reported or observed today.
While the little bit of snow we saw today doesn't change the snowpack's overall character, it does offer a psychological advantage and freshen up the appearance of our old, tired snow. Unfortunately it won't be enough to improve ski quality just yet, we'll need a bit of patience yet to see this drought through. For a general recap and reminder of what we'll be walking on later this week, remember this rules of thumb: the longer snow is exposed to the elements, the slower it is to bond to the incoming snow. We have a bunch of old surfaces that haven't aged well; sastrugi(hard, rough textured snow), wind slab of various densities, crusts and loose facets are becoming an interface to watch. Fortunately, the deeper layers (Jan surface hoar & deeper crusts) have become well bonded and unlikely to pose an avalanche threat as long as the incoming snow comes in slowly.
Not to get everyone excited, but we may be seeing our drought come to an end...but just barely. Today saw a few centimeters, these flurries are expected to continue overnight to give a whopping 5cm! That's just the opening act, the main event is predicted for Mon/Tues when we may get another 8cm! I know, big numbers for sure. In other weather news, tomorrow's temperatures will hover around -8 with thin cloud for most of the day. Westerly winds will be under 20km/hr at ridge top. Cross your fingers it doesn't blow our 5cm dusting away.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
