Ongoing flurries and wind have created heightened avalanche conditions at higher elevations.
Ongoing incremental snowfall and southwest winds have potentially formed wind slabs in steep terrain at upper elevations. There is uncertainty about how well these slabs are bonding to underlying interfaces.
Friday night: Mostly cloudy, scattered flurries with trace accumulations, light to moderate southwest wind, freezing level near 1500 m, alpine temperatures reach -4 C.
Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud, isolated flurries with trace accumulations, light to moderate southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1700 m, alpine temperatures reach -1 C.
Sunday: Cloudy, 5-15 cm of snow, moderate southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1800 m, alpine temperatures reach -1 C.
Monday: Cloudy, 5-15 cm of snow, moderate to strong southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1700 m, alpine temperatures reach -2 C.
No recent avalanches have been reported, but mountain travel and field observations are very limited. Recent snow could form thin wind slabs with the potential to be reactive above the surface hoar that formed over the past week.
Incremental flurries continue to accumulate at upper elevations. This snow sits above a variable mix of crusts, warm snow, and hard old wind slabs. It may also sit above some small surface hoar on shaded aspects. There is some uncertainty about how well the new snow will bond to these interfaces. Weak layers in the upper snowpack have trended towards dormancy. The most prominent and widespread layer was buried in late February and is now 40 to 80 cm deep. This layer was most commonly found in open trees and has produced a few isolated avalanches over the past month.
