Strong southwest wind will form fresh wind slabs in areas where soft snow is available for transport. Be aware that conditions will change throughout the day.
Strong southwest wind will form fresh wind slabs throughout the day in areas where soft snow is available for transport. Wind slabs will be found below ridge crests and in lee terrain features.
Tuesday night: Clear with cloudy periods, moderate southwest wind, alpine low -15 °C.
Wednesday: Mix of sun and clouds, trace of new snow, strong southwest wind, alpine high -8 °C.
Thursday: Mainly cloudy, 5 cm snow, strong to extreme south wind, alpine high -6 °C.
Friday: Mainly cloudy, up to 5 cm snow, strong southwest wind, alpine high -4 °C.
Three small (size 1.5) wind slabs were observed on Monday.
Skiers were surprised by wind slab avalanches on north and northeast aspects in the White Pass area on Friday. The slabs were about 20 cm thick and the avalanches reached up to size 2. Slabs were still reactive to skier traffic on Saturday.
20-40 cm of recent snow are sitting on old, firm surfaces and a crust on solar aspects. The snow surface is heavily wind affected, and soft powder can be found only in the most wind sheltered places. On steep, sun-exposed aspects, there is potential for the existence of a sun crust. The bond between the recent snow and old firm surfaces was reactive to skier traffic in the last few days.
The lower snowpack is well bridged by the layers above, and it is unlikely that avalanches will be triggered on weak, sugary crystals near the ground at this time.
