Avalanche Forecast

High

The surface snow on sunny slopes may produce small wet loose avalanches with temperatures above 0°C. On shady slopes, faceting in the upper snowpack has encouraged sluffing (small dry loose avalanches) with human traffic in steep terrain.

Otherwise, no new avalanches have been reported. If you venture into the backcountry, please consider submitting your observations to the MIN.

A sun crust up to 5 cm thick caps the snowpack on steep south-facing slopes, while new surface hoar is forming in many areas. Alpine and treeline ridgelines are generally wind-affected.

In sheltered terrain, the upper snowpack may contain one or more layers of surface hoar buried sometime in January, but none of these seem to have enough slab property above to be an avalanche problem right now.

A layer of surface hoar, facets, and/or crust buried in early December is 50 to 120 cm deep. An absence of recent avalanche activity suggests it is no longer a significant concern, however, it is still producing occasional, concerning snowpack test results.

The lower snowpack is generally strong and bonded.

Monday Night

Clear. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C

Tuesday

Sunny. 15 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. An above-freezing layer above 2000 m. Treeline temperature 2°C.

Wednesday

Sunny. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Thursday

Increasing cloud. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• The snowpack is generally stable; it may be appropriate to step out into more complex terrain.
• Make observations and continually assess conditions as you travel.
• Avoid steep, sun-exposed slopes when the air temperature is warm or when solar radiation is strong.