Warm temperatures with winds from the southwest are forecast for Sunday. There is a significant amount of new storm snow available for redistribution. An early season snowpack has unpredictable characteristics, keep your terrain choices simple.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations on Sunday
Weather Forecast
Light flurries will taper off and high freezing levels of approximately 1900 meters will persist through Sunday. Winds will be moderate to strong out of the SW at treeline and above. Freezing levels will return to the valley bottoms on Monday.
Avalanche Summary
Minimal observations due to poor visibility.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack consists of 45-50 cm of storm snow that overlies a largely unconsolidated base layer. Some preliminary snowpack observations are indicating a melt freeze crust that exists approximately 10 cm off of the ground but we will continue to investigate other elevations and aspects to determine the prevalence of the layer.
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.
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.