Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Glacier.
With small amounts of new snow, you can expect the skiing to improve, slightly.
Watch for how the recent snow is bonding to the crust and be cautious while travelling through cross-loaded terrain and near ridge-top.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new natural avalanches were observed in the highway corridor on Saturday.
Over the past two days, there has been natural activity from the steep north facing terrain of Mt. Macdonald. There has also been reports of up to sz 2 avalanches triggered both naturally & by skiers.
A group bootpacking a couloir on the S side of Avalanche Mtn triggered a sz 2.5-3 avalanche yesterday. Use caution in this extreme terrain, where the snowpack might be variable and weak.
Snowpack Summary
10-20cm of recent snow sits over a robust crust that formed during recent warm weather. This crust becomes thin and tapers out above 2500m.
Below 2000m the crust is very supportive. This, plus refrozen avalanche debris and shallow snowpack hazards make for RUGGED travel below tree-line.
Warm temperatures have rounded and strengthened the mid and lower snowpack.
Weather Summary
A light system approaches bringing new snow from Sunday into Monday. Tues brings a clearing pattern.
Tonight: Cloudy, Trace precip, Alp low -8°C, light SW winds, Freezing Level (FZL) valley bottom.
Sun: 7cm, Alp high -6°C, Light SW winds, FZL 1300m.
Mon: Cloudy w/ sunny periods & isolated flurries, Alp high -6°C, Light SW wind, FZL 1300m.
Tues: Mix of sun & cloud, Alp high -12°C, FZL valley bottom.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
- Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Loose Dry
20-40 cm of light snow is triggerable in steep terrain. This problem is more reactive where a crust below provides a good bed surface. Expect natural loose dry activity when the sun pops out!
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Wind Slabs
New snow accompanied by moderate winds formed soft wind slabs on leeward and cross loaded features in the alpine..
This windslab is bonding poorly to the Feb 3 layer down 20-30. Where this windslab sits on a crust, it is particularly reactive and has the potential to run far.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2