Avalanche Forecast

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Sunday: Light flurries late in the day / Moderate southwest winds / Freezing level at 1300m.  Monday and Tuesday: Mix of sun and cloud / Moderate northwest winds / Freezing level at valley bottom

Wind loaded features are expected to be the primary concern right now, but due to a lack of observations, we cannot yet issue avalanche problems or danger ratings for the region. If you are out in the mountains, please help us improve our forecast by contributing to the Mountain Information Network.

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. Reports suggest that the snow depth at treeline is typically 110-150cm but a report from the east side of region shows only 80cm at treeline. On Friday, light amounts of recent storm snow and wind are expected to have formed soft slabs in leeward terrain at treeline and in the alpine. The crust from the middle of November is down 50-80cm and the crust from early November is down 80-110cm. The snowpack tapers off drastically below treeline and below around 1700m there is not yet enough snow for avalanches. On the western side of the Lizard Range, the snowpack depth was reported to be 40cm at 1800m elevation.