South Rockies

Storm slabs will be most reactive in wind affected terrain.

Persistent slabs remain possible to human trigger at treeline and above.

Moderate

• We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.
• We are uncertain about forecast snowfall amounts.

On Tuesday, several natural cornice failures up to size 2.5 and several naturally triggered wind slabs up to size 1.5 were reported on primarily north/east aspects in the alpine.

Forecast 15 to 25 cm of snow and strong southwest wind on Wednesday night will form storm slabs that will be most reactive in wind affected terrain.

Under the recent snow is a crust on all aspects, which extends to around 1500 m near Golden, rising to 2100 m further south. Where this crust is absent or unsupportive, concern remains for a persistent weak layer of surface hoar or crust buried 50 to 70 cm deep, and up to 100 cm down in deeper snowpacks such as the Dogtooth Range.

In shallow snowpack areas, depth hoar (large facets) can be found near the bottom of the snowpack.

Wednesday Night
Cloudy. 15 to 25 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 0 to 5 cm of snow. 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Friday
Mostly cloudy. 0 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 0 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
• Use small, low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
• Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches.
• Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
• Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind-exposed terrain.