Watch for newly formed wind slabs from recent strong winds that may have developed further downslope at treeline and alpine elevations.
Strong westerly winds continue to redistribute snow into stubborn wind slabs at alpine and treeline elevations. Wind slabs may be particularly reactive where they overlie the mid-January crust.
On Monday, skier and explosive triggered hard wind slabs, up to size 1, with a depth between 10 to 20 cm.
On Sunday, explosive control triggered a size 1.5 windslab in a reverse-loaded feature.
On Saturday, several wind slabs, up to size 1, were reported to be reactive to natural and human triggers.
Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.
Strong to extreme winds continue to build isolated, hard wind slabs at alpine and treeline elevations. Above 2100 m these wind slabs are building over wind-affected surfaces, below this a melt-freeze crust formed in mid-January.
The mid-snowpack continues to settle and is well consolidated. Facets exist near the base of the snowpack. Total snowpack depth ranges between 100 cm to 200 cm in wind-loaded areas.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, trace accumulations. strong to extreme westerly ridgetop winds 50-70 km/h. Treeline temperatures of -15 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries, and trace accumulation. Strong westerly ridgetop winds 50 to 60 km/h. Treeline temperatures -11 °C.
ThursdayMainly cloudy, trace accumulation, strong to extreme westerly winds of 40 to 60 km/h, and treeline temperatures of -10 °C.
FridayMainly sunny. no new snow, winds weakening to moderate 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures rising to -3 °C
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
