Avalanche Forecast

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Saturday night and early Sunday morning: 10-25cm of new snow / Strong southwest winds / Alpine temperatures at -8.  Sunday: Light flurries with clearing skies in th afternoon / Light north winds / Alpine temperatures at -12. Monday: Clear skies / Light variable winds / Alpine temperatures at -12. Tuesday: Clear skies / Light north winds / Alpine temperatures at -16

No recent avalanche observations have been submitted. Moderate SW winds and new snow could build new storm slabs on leeward slopes and behind terrain features. Pay attention to changing avalanche conditions especially at upper elevations.

Early season snowpack observations are still very limited in the region, but the threshold for avalanches has been exceeded at treeline and in the alpine. Some areas below treeline are below threshold for avalanches with only the smoothest open slopes beginning to reach threshold. Fresh storm slabs are building with new snow and wind, and are expected to be most reactive in high elevation, wind-affected terrain. A thick melt-freeze crust from mid-November is down around 70 cm. Recent observations indicate the layer is generally well bonded to the adjacent snow; however, reports of sudden test results in the South Columbia region suggest we shouldn't write this layer off just yet. The snowpack below this is generally strong and well-settled.