Avalanche Forecast

High -

The weather pattern has taken a dramatic shift as the arctic ridge becomes the dominant weather feature through the weekend, bringing colder temperatures and mostly clear skies.Saturday: Mostly sunny. Alpine temperatures near -8 and freezing levels at valley bottom. Ridgetop winds light from the West. Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Alpine temperatures near -9. Ridgetop winds light from the northwest.Monday: A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures -10. Light winds from the northeast.

On Thursday, numerous large and destructive natural slab avalanches occurred through the region up to size 4 on all aspects and elevations. Avalanche control using explosives triggered numerous loose wet avalanches up to size 2 and a significant size 3 storm slab avalanche. These were reported from SE-SW slopes above 1900 m. Natural avalanche activity may spike again with the first hit of sun then start to taper off through the weekend with colder temps; however,  slopes will remain primed for human triggers.

Storm snow accumulations vary, showing 10-45cm across the region at upper elevations. Below 1800 m a surface crust exists. The new snow in the alpine has been redistributed to leeward slopes from strong northwest winds. This now brings 1- 2 m of settled snow sitting on three significant surface hoar/ crust layers that were formed early to mid-January, and back in December. Near the base of the snowpack a crust/ facet interface exists and will likely haunt us all season. These persistent weak layers that lurk within the snowpack are reactive, producing large and destructive avalanches. The snowpack is extremely complex and requires respect and diligence at this time.