Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

• We are uncertain about forecast precipitation amounts.
• We are uncertain about how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.

Monday, Tuesday, and possibly continuing into Wednesday, a natural avalanche cycle has occurred. Avalanches have been observed on all aspects up to size 3.5. Details are limited due to poor visibility in the region.

Recent snowfall amounts throughout the region have been variable; up to 25 to 50 cm of settling storm snow has been redistributed into deep deposits on north and east aspects in the high alpine. Ongoing rain has saturated the upper snowpack at and below treeline. Moist surface snow continues up to mountain tops in many places.

A thick crust buried earlier in March can be found down 50 to 80 cm at treeline and below.

Two more crusts, with facets above them, can be found down 70 to 150 cm.

The remainder of the snowpack is well settled and bonded.

Thursday Night
Cloudy. 3 to 5 cm of snow. 30-50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level as low as 1000 m in the north end of the forecast area, and as high as 2000 m in the south end.

Friday
Cloudy. 3 to 15 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. Freezing level around 2000 m. 50-70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.