Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Sunday night: Cloudy with clear periods and isolated flurries, alpine temperature -12 C, light south wind.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries, up to 4 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -10 C, light to moderate southwest wind.

Tuesday: Flurries, 10-20 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -8 C, moderate southwest wind.

Wednesday: Flurries, 5-15 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -6 C, light south wind with moderate to strong gusts.

Avalanches are decreasing in likelihood, but it still may be possible to trigger wind slabs in isolated pockets in the alpine.This is a great MIN report from the nearby South Columbia region on Wednesday that helps to paint the picture of these wind slab avalanches.

Snowline sits around 1200 m, and snow depths range from 70-130 cm at treeline elevations.

Recent wind affect on surface snow can be found at all elevations, and old, hard windslabs are found in the alpine and around ridgline. These slabs could be more reactive where they overly a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) that formed on a crust. The last week of cold temperatures has been slowly decreasing the strength of the upper snowpack.

A variety of crusts from late October are buried deeper in the snowpack (down 50-90 cm). Generally, the inactive weather pattern over the past week has improved overall snowpack stability in the short term.