Avalanche Forecast

High

New on Sunday: Explosives released several size 2 storm slabs and one size 3 that propagated across the entire feature and ran far (typical length of a size 3 is 1000 m). Whumphs were reported from the Flathead.

Previously Reported: one size 2 natural from the Lizard Range during Friday's storm was up to 40 cm deep, 150m wide and ran 300m.

Something to Ponder: by Sunday night the snowpack may have received 60mm of water equivalency in the last two storms. Adding 50% or more load to a young, thin snowpack is significant. I'm thinking it's possible something might scrub down into the lower snowpack or even to ground.

Upper snowpack: consists of the 45 to 60 cm of snow over the past week. At the bottom of this recent snow is a layer of surface hoar. Take a look under the hood from Harvey Pass. ESPeters10 - thanks for sharing.

Lower Snowpack: sugary faceted snow and with a rain crust just above the ground.

Snowpack depths at treeline are 45 to 75 cm, and in the alpine 65 to 125 cm.

Sunday NightIt's going to be a clear and cold night. No new snow, light west wind, and touching -20 C.

MondayDry, mix of sun or cloud, depending where you are, light wind veering to the north or east, and temperatures around -15 to -20 C.

Very similar to Monday. Maybe a touch colder, maybe a bit more sun, maybe the wind will back to the SW late in the day.

A weak system arriving from the coast. Currently it looks like a dusting to 10 cm of snow but it should warm up dramatically with the southwest wind.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
• Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
• Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.