Watch for pockets of fresh wind slab at ridgetop. As the temperatures drop over the next 48 hours you should be planning on dialing things back. Even a small accident can have big consequences with cold temps and short days.
Fresh wind slabs are likely to have formed at ridgetop elevations where moderate or strong winds were observed during the day. Older wind slabs may remain triggerable by riders particularly where they sit over surface hoar.
No recent avalanches have been observed in the region however several persistent slab avalanches up to size 2 have been reported in the neighboring forecast region.
Winds have been variable over the past couple days likely forming wind slab in all exposed alpine terrain. recent snow and wind slab overlies a sun crust on south facing slopes and a layer of facets and surface hoar on other aspects.
A weak layer consisting of facets and a crust formed in November is now buried around 50cm deep. This layer has produced large avalanches over the past weekend and continues to show reactivity in snowpack tests.
The lower snowpack consists of sugary and faceted snow, with a thick rain crust near the ground.
Total snowpack depths at treeline elevations are around 100cm .
Friday Night
Cloudy with the possibility of light flurries bringing trace amounts of new snow. Moderate to strong northwest winds shifting to west in the morning with a low of -14 at 1800m.
Saturday
Scattered flurries bringing up to 5cm of new snow. Moderate southwest wind. High of -15 at 1800m.
Sunday
Scattered flurries bringing trace amounts of new snow. Light south wind. High of -23 at 1800m.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud with no new snow expected. Strong southwest winds and a high of -25at 1800m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
