Steady winds continue to redistribute loose snow, the trend will continue as flurries accumulate.
Flurries beginning to accumulate around the region will be impacted by steady winds. New flurries and loose snow will be redistributed and build new slabs on leeward slopes, particularly near ridgetop.
Friday night: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine low temperature -5 C. Moderate west-southwest wind. Freezing level 1400 m.
Saturday: Cloudy with scattered flurries, trace to 10 cm. Alpine high temperature -2 C. Moderate southwest wind. Freezing level 1600 m.
Sunday: Flurries and snow, 10-15 cm. Alpine high temperature -1 C. Moderate southwest wind gusting to strong. Freezing level rising to 1900 m.
Monday: Flurries and snow, 10-15 cm. Alpine high temperature -5 C. Moderate southwest wind gusting to strong. Freezing level 1500 m and dropping.
We have very limited field observations at this time. There have be no new avalanches reported in the region.
Around 20 cm recent snow has been redistributed by wind. A sun crust developed on steep solar slopes and below treeline. Around treeline and above, this recent snow overlies another melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes and previously wind-affected snow in other areas.
A layer of faceted grains overly a melt-freeze crust from early February. This layer currently sits 30 to 60 cm below the surface. This layer remains dormant and has not produced a reported avalanche for about a week.
The base of the snowpack may contain a weak layer of faceted grains that are most prominent in shallow rocky start zones with a snowpack depth of 150 cm or less.
