Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

FRIDAY: Cloudy, light southwest winds, freezing level dropping with alpine temperatures around -5 C.SATURDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, moderate southeast winds, alpine temperatures around -8 C.SUNDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods, light southeast winds, alpine temperatures around -8 C.

On Wednesday, several loose wet avalanches were reported from steep rocky terrain at lower elevations where rain fell on snow. Storm slabs sitting on a weak layer of surface hoar and/or a crust are likely easy to trigger at higher elevations. Full depth avalanches continue to be a concern due to the weak faceted snowpack below old hard wind slabs. This deep persistent weak layer may take prolonged warm weather with consistent snowfall to settle and bond.

20-25 cm of new storm snow has been transported by southwest winds and now sits on a mix of old surfaces left behind after the recent cold and windy weather. Expect the new storm snow to bond poorly where it is sitting on a weak layer of buried surface hoar and/or a hard old wind polished surface. The freezing level recently reached 1000 m, and below this level the snowpack is likely moist and will eventually form a hard crust. Most areas continue to have a shallow and weak snowpack that is about 120-150 cm at treeline. In general, the snowpack above treeline has been heavily wind effected; this has resulted in hard wind slabs above weak faceted snow.