Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Regions
Northwest Inland.
Moderate to strong southerly wind and a few more cm of snow may form small storm slabs Saturday night into Sunday that rest on a widespread crust. The best riding and highest danger are expected to overlap on high elevation north facing features.
Confidence
Moderate -
Weather Forecast
The weather models are having a pretty tough time getting a handle on the current weather pattern and the region received less precipitation than anticipated Friday night. Saturday nights precipitation is a bit more modest. That being said, take these wind and precipitation values with a grain of salt. SATURDAY NIGHT: Freezing level lowering to 1100 m, moderate to strong wind out of the south, 1 to 2 cm of snow. SUNDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level around 1200 m, strong southwest wind, 1 to 3 cm of snow possible.MONDAY: Scattered cloud cover, freezing level rising to around 1500 m, moderate to strong southwest wind, trace of snow possible.TUESDAY: Scattered cloud cover, freezing level holding around 1500 m, moderate southwest wind, trace of snow possible.
Avalanche Summary
No significant recent avalanche activity to report. If you're out this weekend we'd love it if you would submit what you're seeing to the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
5 to 20 cm of storm snow now rests on a weak layer buried April 4th which consists of crust, surface hoar and facets. The crust is widespread and up to 4 cm thick. Spotty surface hoar and facets have been reported on top of the crust on high elevation north facing slopes. Light to moderate wind generally out of the south Friday night may have formed shallow storm slabs that may be sensitive to human triggering this weekend.North facing alpine terrain also has a layer of facets down 30 to 50 cm below the surface, but this layer has not been recently active and is likely trending towards dormancy.Below treeline the snowpack is isothermal throughout much of the forecast region.
Problems
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.