Regions
Northwest Inland.
Pockets of thin windslab may continue to exist in the alpine and at treeline.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the quality of field observations
Weather Forecast
Chance of a couple of cm overnight and flurries during the day Monday. Treeline temperatures around -12 with light to moderate westerly winds. Flurries on Tuesday with light southerly winds and some broken skies. Wednesday overcast with flurries and -15 at treeline. The north of the region may be under mostly clear skies and arctic air by Tuesday evening.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported. Incremental loading should develop thin new wind slabs on lee aspects.
Snowpack Summary
A trace of new snow overnight has not changed the conditions. Shallow early season conditions continue with 80-100 cm at treeline in the south and west of the region, and closer to 60 cm in the east. Stiff wind slabs have been reported above treeline in the lee of variable and changing winds. The winds were out of the northeast in areas under the influence of arctic air, and out of the south or southeast when the snow moved across from the coast. The surface hoar reported last week is variable in its distribution and may be hard to find. Weak basal layers may exist in shallow snowpacks that have experienced continuous cold temperatures.
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.