Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain

THURSDAY NIGHT - Flurries, 5-10 cm / south to southwest winds , 40-75 km/h / freezing level 1100m / alpine low temperature near -5FRIDAY - Mainly cloudy with flurries , up to 15 cm / south to southwest winds, 40-85 km/h / freezing level 1400m / alpine temperature near -4SATURDAY - A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries / south to southwest winds, 30-55 km/h / freezing level 900m / alpine high temperature near -8, low temperature near -14SUNDAY - A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries / southerly winds, 20-55 km/h / freezing level 1100m / alpine high temperature near -3, low temperature near -9

Numerous avalanches were reported in the region on Wednesday. The storm slab has been very reactive, producing both natural and human triggered avalanches up to size 2.5. These have been up to 80 cm deep and numerous avalanches were triggered from a distance (remote triggered).

60-90 cm of recent storm snow sits on a weak layer that consists of facets (sugary snow), surface hoar (feathery crystals), and a sun crust on south aspects. The storm came in with moderate to strong winds that continue to persist throughout the region, creating widespread slab formation.A weak layer from mid November is now buried up to 120 cm and consists of surface hoar in shady locations, and a sun crust on steep south facing slopes. While not recently reactive, the potential may exist for storm slab avalanches to step down and trigger this deeper layer, resulting in large avalanches. The most likely place for this layer to be a problem is on steep, south facing slopes at treeline where the surface hoar sits on the sun crust.At the base of the snowpack is a crust that formed in late October. The probability of triggering this layer is low, but the most suspect areas would be large, steep, rocky alpine features with a shallow snowpack. It would likely take a large trigger such as a cornice fall to produce an avalanche on this layer.