Avalanche Forecast

Low

Warm weather on Wednesday likely triggered wet avalanches, as reports from Tuesday included several size 1 wet loose avalanches across the region.

As temperatures cool on Thursday, a mix of wet and dry avalanches are expected.

As freezing levels drop on Thursday, rain will transition to snow. Snowfall amounts will depend on the timing of the cooling, but expect 10 to 20 cm by the end of the day.

This new snow will land on a thick layer of wet, rain-soaked snow.

Deeper in the snowpack, a melt-freeze crust from early March sits 40 to 70 cm deep. Below that, two weak layers of surface hoar and/or faceted grains associated with crusts from late January and mid-February may be found 70 to 120 cm deep. We do not have reports of recent avalanches on these layers.

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 mm of rain. 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with rain transitioning to snow, totalling 15 to 25 mm/cm. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level dropping from 2500 to 1700 m.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud with 0 to 10 cm of snow. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Use conservative route selection. Choose simple, low angle terrain with no overhead hazard.
• Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 20 cm of new snow.
• A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.