Wind and new snow have combined to begin a naturally triggered avalanche cycle this morning. Keep your eyes open for avalanche activity.
Weather Forecast
Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries for today and tonight and 4cm of snow on Saturday. Winds are forecast to be moderate from the SW gusting to High. Alpine temperatures
Snowpack Summary
Below the new snow a there is a temperature crust on solar aspects, the Mar 22 Cr is down 30-50cm.On north aspects the upper snowpack consists of settling storm snow down to about 1600m below which there is a crust. Where the wind has been at the new snow near ridge lines and in the Alpine, soft slabs have have been observed.
Avalanche Summary
There was very little activity observed yesterday, due to cooler temps and cloud cover hanging overhead for most of the day. Avalanches have been observed this morning up to size 2.5 from steep North aspects running to 1/4 of the runnout fans.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
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.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.