Avalanche Forecast

High

Sunday: Mainly cloudy with light snow. The freezing level is around 400 m and winds are moderate from the southeast. Monday: Periods of snow – 10-15 cm. The freezing level rises to 800-1200 m and winds increase to strong from the S-SW. Tuesday: Periods of snow. The freezing level is around 1000-1500 m. Winds remain moderate or strong from the SW.

Observed avalanche activity varies throughout the region. Some reporters observed a fairly widespread avalanche cycle with numerous slabs up to size 2.5, mainly from slopes at and below treeline. Others reported only a couple natural slab avalanches up to size 2 from wind-loaded features. On Friday, there was one report of a size 3.5 slab that was remotely triggered by a helicopter touching down. Variable avalanche activity highlights the current challenges with buried and touchy persistent weaknesses.

Light snowfall and steady moderate S-SE winds continue. Expect fresh wind slabs overlying older wind-affected surfaces in exposed lee and cross-loaded terrain. The January 9th surface hoar/facet layer down 50-70 cm in most places, and seems most concerning at and below treeline. Approximately 10 cm below this weakness you might find the Dec. 26/31 surface hoar layer. Reports of remote triggering, whumpfing, and sudden "pops" shears are all indications that both these layers could propagate well if triggered. Deeper persistent weaknesses buried in December have the potential to wake-up to heavy loading, rapid warming, or avalanches stepping-down.