Avalanche Forecast

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

TUESDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of snow, moderate wind from the southwest, treeline temperatures around -6 C.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy, light wind from the southwest with some gusts to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures around -6 C.

THURSDAY: Increasing cloud with isolated flurries brining up to 5 cm of new snow, strong wind from the south, treeline temperatures around -8 C.

FRIDAY: Stormy weather with 5-15 cm of snow throughout the day, strong wind from the south, treeline temperatures around -5 C.

There are no reports from White Pass over the past few days, but we suspect the storm on Monday night resulted in some natural wind slab avalanches in alpine terrain.

Monday night's storm delivered 5-20 cm of snow with strong southerly wind. This has further reshaped the already variable snow surface with a mix of fresh soft wind slabs, old hard wind slabs, sastrugi, and scoured surfaces. At lower elevations, there have been reports of a thin rime crust around treeline and a hard crust below 1300 m. Pockets of soft snow may be found in sheltered trees. The snowpack structure is generally strong, but some weak and facetted snow can be found just above the ground.

• Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
• Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind loaded snow.
• Stay off recently wind loaded slopes until they have had a chance to stabilize.