Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

On Wednesday, a group reported being able to ski cut wet slabs in the forest due to warming temperatures.

Several storm slab (up to size 1.5) avalanches have been reported recently, some have been triggered remotely from up to 10 m away. There are reports of these avalanches sliding on the layer of facets (now 40 - 60 cm deep) that formed during the drought in January.

10 - 15 cm of wet new snow Saturday should bring us to 25 - 30 cm accumulation on top of various problematic surfaces formed during recent cold, dry conditions. These include firm wind effect in exposed terrain, weak surface hoar or faceted grains in sheltered, shaded terrain, and sun crusts on sun-affected slopes.

40 to 60 cm of generally faceted snow overlies a weak layer buried in late January. In most areas, this layer consists of a hard crust along with weak facets or surface hoar. It has been implicated in a few recent small avalanches.

The mid and lower snowpack is strong and bonded.

Saturday night

Mainly cloudy with up to 10 - 15 cm of new snow, greatest in the alpine. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1700 m.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud after 5 - 10 cm accumulation overnight, greatest in the alpine. 15 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1700 m.

Tuesday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 15 - 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
• Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.
• Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.