Incremental snow loading and steady winds have bumped up the avalanche hazard. Minimize your overhead exposure to avalanche paths and use more cautious travel techniques.
Weather Forecast
Snow fall should be tapering off today into tomorrow with lingering flurries. Temperatures will remain at around -5 and winds will be in the moderate range from the south west at 1800m. A more significant system arrives on Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
25cm of new storm snow. Upper meter is settling. Mid to lower snow pack is rounding out and becoming more well settled. The Dec. 8 surface hoar/facet layer, now down 90cm, has been mostly unreactive in snowpack tests. The Nov. 28 surface hoar layer however, down ~125cm, still well preserved in certain areas is giving hard sudden planar results.
Avalanche Summary
2 natural size 2.0 slab avalanches yesterday in the highway corridor from steep gully features.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.