Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain on Saturday

On saturday night and into sunday morning 5-7 cm of snow is forecast for the region with moderate southwest winds. Freezing levels should sit at about 1200m during this time.During the day on sunday expect slight clearing, light northwesterly winds and freezing levels dropping to surface.On monday the forecast calls for continued clearing, light northwesterly wind and freezing levels at surface.On tuesday, expect more of the same with trace amounts of snow.

None reported at this time.

The December dry spell left us with large surface hoar and faceted powder on sheltered shady slopes, and a surface crust on sun-exposed slopes. They are now buried by soft slabs and more recently wind-transported moist snow and should continue to get incrementally buried with saturday night's forecast weather. Assuming the structure of the old snow surface is preserved long enough for a sufficiently thick and cohesive slab to bury it, then a highly unstable situation should develop (particularly where surface hoar and/or faceted crystals are associated with a weak crust). The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and strong, but faceted. Check out the Forecaster's Blog link below for more general snowpack discussion and good advice for managing incremental loading.