Avalanche Forecast

Poor - Due to limited field observations on Wednesday

Monday-Tuesday will see patchy valley cloud in the mornings with clear, sunny skies in the afternoon.  No precipitation is expected, ridgetop winds will be light from the NW. Alpine temperatures will remain near -5 with freezing levels generally sitting near 900-1200 m. Wednesday should start to see a change as the next system sets up. Timing and intensity of Wednesdays system is uncertain.  Freezing levels may climb to 1500 m, and winds will switch out of the South.

On Friday a widespread cycle occurred during the recent storm. Natural avalanches up to 2.5 ran on all aspects with good propagation. Slab depths were 40-60 cm deep and mainly confined to N- NE aspects on alpine slopes. Natural activity is likely over now, but I'm still concerned that human triggers will be a factor over the next couple days.Recently, several loose size 1.5-2.0 natural avalanches have occurred in the northern part of the region.

Recent storm snow accumulations across the region vary from 25-50 cm. Storm slabs and wind slabs have formed and add an additional load to the snowpack. During this dry, cool period the new snow should start to settle out, and bond to the upper pack but loose dry sluffing may occur from steeper, larger terrain features.Some persistent weak layers linger deeper in the snowpack. A buried surface hoar layer has been reported. Not sure how wide spread it is across the region, but the average depth is down 60 cm and found in specific, sheltered locations. Below this (down 80-110 cm) sits the early November crust. Tests have been showing easy to moderate SP (sudden planar) pops on weak facetted crystals at this crust interface, or within the crust sandwich.The snowpack depth in the alpine ranges from 130-225 cm. Treeline near 150 cm. A sharp transition is still seen below treeline, where the snowpack peters out around 1300 m.