Strong winds and new snow will require cautious route finding and conservative decision making throughout the weekend.
Weather Forecast
FRIDAY: Snow beginning around mid-day with 10-15 cm snow by Saturday. / Strong westerly winds / Freezing level around 1000 m. SATURDAY: Stormy with 5-10 cm snow / Moderate to strong westerly winds / Freezing level around 700 m. SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy / Moderate northwesterly winds / Freezing level valley bottom.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday, however, there is currently very limited data for this region. Please report your observations to the Mountain Information Network(MIN).
Snowpack Summary
Observations are very limited in this region. In the alpine, 5-10 cm of new snow has buried old wind slabs. The mid-November crust is down around 100 cm. Average snowpack depths at treeline are 140-180 cm with generally less snow in the northern parts of the region. Below treeline, rocks, stumps, and open creeks remain the primary hazards.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.