Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

SUNDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 5-15 cm, moderate southwesterly winds increasing over the day, alpine temperature near -7 C, freezing level near 800 m.MONDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 5-10 cm, light to moderate southwesterly winds, alpine temperature near -5 C, freezing level near valley bottom.TUESDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 10-20 cm, light to moderate southwesterly winds, alpine temperature near -6 C, freezing level near valley bottom.

Recent natural, skier-triggered, snowmobile-triggered, and skier-remoted avalanches have been reported on the December 15 layer at and below treeline on all aspects.  The avalanches were generally small, being reported between size 1 and 2.  Numerous reports of whumphing were also noted in low elevation cutblocks and flat terrain.Sluffing was also noted within the new snow in steep terrain.  Reactivity of the storm and persistent slabs are likely to increase as the upper snowpack forms slab properties.

10-15 cm of new snow fell on surface hoar in sheltered slopes and a sun crust on steep solar aspects and may not bond well to them.  The snow also may have fallen with moderate southwesterly winds in the alpine, which could have produced small wind slabs in lee features.The additional snow could create a dangerous slab above buried weak layers.  Numerous persistent weak layers exist in the snowpack.  Dry snow overlies two layers composed of weak and feathery surface hoar, with the deeper layer (December 15) buried 40 to 80 cm.  This layer is found most often around and below treeline.  As the overlying dry snow becomes more cohesive and forms a slab, this layer has the potential to create easily-triggerable destructive slab avalanches.  Snowpack tests are showing that this layer could form avalanches (i.e. sudden fracture characters, high propagation potential, whumpfing, rutschblock 1 to 3).  Deeper in the snowpack (90 to 150 cm), a November crust is producing variable test results, from sudden to no result.  This layer is considered dormant but could be triggered where the snowpack is thin.Please share your recent observations through the Mountain Information Network.