Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

A small (size 1) slab avalanche was observed Thursday in the upper below treeline region (~2000 m), on a steep, south-facing road bank. It failed and propagated on the sugary, faceted lower snowpack, down 25 cm from the surface.

The surface snow continues to dry out (facet) with the current cold temperatures and is being redistributed by variable winds. In the alpine and treeline, much of the wind-exposed terrain has been scoured of snow. In deeper snowpack (loaded) areas, cohesive wind slabs may exist and generally overlie a weak, sugary, facetted lower snowpack.

The overall height of snow is highly variable throughout the region. 50-150 cm in the alpine.

Friday night

Mostly cloudy with no precipitation expected, light to moderate westerly ridgetop winds, and alpine temperatures in the -15 to -20 C range.

Saturday

Clearing throughout the day. Generally light winds from the west at ridgetop, with alpine temperatures warming slightly, in the -10 to -15 C range.

Mostly sunny, light ridgetop winds and alpine temperatures around -10 C.

Mostly sunny, light ridgetop winds and alpine temperatures around -15 C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind exposed terrain.
• Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
• Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.