Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain.

Monday Night: Flurries, accumulation 5-10 cm. Light southwest winds. Alpine temperatures around -8 C.

Tuesday: Snow, accumulation 10-20 cm. Moderate west winds. Alpine temperatures around -5 C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Wednesday: Scattered flurries. Moderate to strong west winds. Alpine temperatures around -3 C, freezing level 1400 m.

Thursday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Light northwest winds. Alpine temperatures around -10 C, freezing level valley bottom.

Reports of thick crowns from windslab avalanches at low elevations have been rolling in over the weekend. On Saturday we received a report of a remotely triggered windslab that slid on a crust in an open area below treeline.

Recent snow and strong winds have formed windslab in open areas at all elevations. A reasonably consolidated upper snowpack overlies a weak base. The bottom 30-50 cm of the snowpack consists of weak facets and crusts. Although these layers have been unreactive in recent snowpack tests and have not produced avalanche activity recently, there is the potential for them to wake up with large loads or significant warming.

• Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Keep your guard up at lower elevations. Wind slab formation has been extensive.
• Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.