Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain on Sunday

A ridge of high pressure will continue to dominate the region for the forecast period bringing dry conditions, mainly sunny skies and light winds from the west/northwest. Freezing levels should hover around 1000m for Sunday. Although there's a possibility of an inversion redeveloping for Monday and Tuesday, alpine temperatures are expected to remain below freezing. No significant precipitation is expected for at least a week.

A size 2.5 natural cornice release was reported on Friday. A size 2.5 release was also noted on steep south-facing terrain. Solar warming was attributed to this activity.Explosives avalanche control in the region also produced 2 size 3 slab avalanches which failed at ground level. They occurred on a northeast aspect, likely on an upper elevation slope.

Snowpack depths vary, but in general there is now 200 to 250cm of snow at tree line and as much as 300 cm in select places in the alpine. In some areas we're still dealing with a relatively thin snowpack thanks to a windy early season and strong winds scouring slopes during recent storms. Roughly 100cm of well settled storm snow exists as a stubborn wind slab in many areas. Steep, sun exposed slopes are most likely seeing a daily melt-freeze cycle while surface hoar has been growing in shaded terrain. Below the recently formed storm slab you may find surface hoar buried around January 8th. Its distribution and reactivity seems highly variable. Where it exists, reactivity seems most likely below treeline.A basal facet/crust combo (weak sugary snow above and below a crust) near the ground is still a concern in some areas and was the culprit with some of the very large recent avalanches. Likely triggers at this interface would include cornice fall, rapid temperature changes or thin spot triggering on an unsupported alpine slope.