10-20 cm of forecast snow and moderate west winds on Friday night will form fresh storm slabs that will be most reactive in wind affected terrain.
Start in simple terrain and use small slopes with low consequence to test the bond of the new snow.
10-20 cm of forecast snow and moderate west winds on Friday night will form fresh storm slabs that will be most reactive in wind affected terrain.
Cornices are very large in many areas. Cornice failures may trigger large avalanches on the slopes below.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Snow; 10-20 cm / Moderate west winds / Low of -7 / Freezing level valley bottom.
SATURDAY: Flurries; 3-5 cm / Light southwest wind / High of -1 / Freezing level 1300 m.
SUNDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries; 0-5 cm / Light southwest wind / High of 0 / Freezing level 1500 m.
MONDAY: Flurries; 5-10 cm / Moderate southwest wind / High of 1 / Freezing level 1600 m.
A few skier triggered size 1 wind slabs primarily on northerly aspects in the alpine were reported on Thursday.
Heavy loads, such as cornice failures, can trigger large avalanches on deeply buried weak layers.
10-20 cm of forecast snow and moderate west winds on Friday night will form fresh storm slabs that will be most reactive in wind affected terrain.
The new snow will be sitting on a variety of surfaces including hard wind affected snow, sun crusts on southerly slopes, and surface hoar on shady or sheltered slopes. Expect storm slabs to be most reactive where they are sitting on either a sun crust or surface hoar.
The late February persistent weak layer combination of crust, facets and surface hoar is down 30-40 cm. Reports suggest this layer is becoming less reactive in most areas.
Two persistent weak layers from mid February and late January are buried 50-120cm deep. No recent avalanches have been reported on these layers but they continue to produce the occasional notable result in snowpack tests.
The most likely triggers of these persistent weak layers are large triggers such as smaller avalanches in motion, cornices, or snowmobiles.
