Avalanche Forecast

High

• We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase with the forecast weather.

No new avalanches have been reported since a solar-induced wet avalanche and cornice cycle late last week. A shift to much more active storm slab conditions is expected for Tuesday.

About 30 cm of new snow (Monday included) should accumulate by end of Tuesday under strong to extreme winds.

The new snow has started to bury a variety of surfaces:

-In the alpine, a widespread melt freeze crust on solar aspects and within the band of recent above freezing layers.

-Firm and wind-affected surfaces in the rest of the alpine

-At treeline and below treeline, there is a robust melt-freeze crust. Up to 30 mm surface hoar growth has been noted on this layer.

-Surface facetting has been noted on all these.

The January 3rd surface hoar is still a layer of note, found 100 to 250 cm deep.

Treeline snow depths throughout the region range from 250 to 450 cm.

Monday Night
Cloudy with easing flurries bringing up to about 10 cm of new snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind, increasing. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Tuesday
Cloudy with increasing flurries bringing up to about 5 cm of new snow. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with a break between overnight and afternoon flurries, together bringing 5 to 20 cm of new snow. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind, increasing. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy with continuing flurries bringing 10 to 20 mm of new snow, including overnight amounts, with afternoon rain below about 1300 m. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature reaching 0 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
• Make observations and continually assess conditions as you travel.