Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

FRIDAY NIGHT - Cloudy with clear periods / light to moderate southerly winds / alpine low temperature near -5 / alpine temperature inversionSATURDAY - Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries / moderate south to southwest winds / alpine high temperature near -6 / alpine temperature inversion in some areasSUNDAY - Cloudy with scattered flurries, up to 5 cm / moderate to strong southerly winds / alpine high temperature near -4, low temperature near -7MONDAY - Sunny with cloudy periods and isolated flurries, up to 5 cm / moderate southwest winds / alpine high temperature near -6, low temperature near -8

No new avalanches have been reported.

The snowpack is currently quite stable in most places, however a buried weak layer still exists down 20-60 cm. This layer consists of a sun crust on steep south facing slopes, and/or surface hoar (feathery crystals). The surface hoar is most prominent at treeline. The most likely place to trigger this layer is where the surface hoar is sitting on the crust. This combination is most likely found on steep south facing terrain at treeline.At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most likely areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.Snowpack depths decrease dramatically with elevation.