Avalanche Forecast

Good - -1

Mostly clear and dry for the forecast period. Although warmer on Thursday and Friday, freezing levels are expected to remain in or near valley bottoms. Winds are expected to be light but gusty northwesterlies.

Generally limited new avalanche activity reported except for isolated natural cornice triggered wind slab and loose snow avalanches up to Size 2 in steep alpine terrain. Low density surface snow is sluffing readily.

Warm temperatures and light precipitation settled the 20-40cm of recent storm snow and created upside down slabs and/or thin surface crust on Monday. Since then, light amounts dry snow is maintaining the snow supply for wind slab development, but cold temperatures are likely starting to improve storm slab stability. A thin melt/freeze crust can be found in the upper snowpack as high as 1900m. The late-December interface is now down 40-50cm and producing moderate to hard resistant snowpack test results. While the mid-December surface hoar/facet persistent weakness, down 65cm, is still producing moderate to hard but sudden results. Basal facets remain concern in shallow snowpack areas especially with heavy triggers in thin spots, and weaknesses above create the potential for step-down avalanches.