Avalanche Forecast

Reports indicate a natural avalanche cycle occurred in steep, unsupported alpine terrain features during the most recent storm in the Sentinel area. Wet avalanches were observed at treeline and below.

Reactivity is expected to linger in wind affected features.

Please continue to submit MIN reports and support your backcountry community.

At higher elevations winds are expected to have redistributed recent snowfall into deeper slabs on north and east facing terrain features. A layer of surface hoar can be found around 30-50 cm deep.

A crust with sugary facets beneath it can be found just above the ground. The snowpack is still shallow for this time of year. Average snowpack depths at treeline range from 65 to 90 cm.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, westerly winds 10-20 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -7 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy, 2 cm of snowfall possible. Westerly winds increase to 50 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -7 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with around 5 cm of snow. Southwest winds, 70 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -6 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 5-10 cm of snow. Strong westerly winds ease over the day. Freezing levels rise to 1200 m by afternoon. Treeline temperatures around -2 °C

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
• Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
• Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.