Remain vigilant in steep and unsupported terrain in case you find the sweet spot for that wind slab, or triggering a deeper slab in a shallow snowpack area. Otherwise, we need some more snow before the danger level will rise.
Weather Forecast
The cold temperatures will continue until Sunday, so be sure to bundle up. Thursday will be cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, but very little accumulation is expected. Temperatures will climb to -15 °C in the Alpine, but likely be colder in the valley floors. Wind chills will remain a factor with light to moderate westerly winds through the period.
Avalanche Summary
A few loose dry avalanches up to size 1.0 in steep Alpine terrain on all aspects.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack continues to facet with the persistently cold temperatures. Wind slabs are found in Alpine areas on all aspects, and in isolated spots at Treeline. Below 2200m a buried layer of surface hoar (down 20 to 30cm) remains a layer of note, but due to the current lack of an overlying slab this layer has not been active. Deeper in the snowpack the November and october crust layers are being monitored, but are not currently active.
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.
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.