Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
The weekend looks mostly dry, then a warm storm bring moderate precipitation arrives on Monday.Saturday and Sunday: Mostly dry, but cloudy. Winds Moderate NW'ly at ridgetop. Treeline temperatures around -2.Monday: A moderate storm is expected to hit with rising temperatures bringing around 15-20 mm preciptation. This will likely fall as rain below 1500 m and a mix of rain and snow up possibly as high as 2000 m. Strong SW winds are expected.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
New snow and strong southerly winds have created pockets of touchy wind slab in exposed lee terrain and cross-loaded features, and scoured windward slopes. Roughly 20-30cm of settling storm snow overlies a variety of old surfaces which formed during the early December cold snap. These surfaces include sugary faceted snow (which may overlie a crust in some areas), spotty surface hoar in sheltered terrain, and hard wind slab on south-facing alpine terrain. The storm snow generally appears to be well bonded to this interface but instabilities may exist in isolated areas.Snowpack depths vary greatly across the region, but are significantly lower than average for this time of year. Terrain below treeline is still mostly below threshold for avalanche activity. Early season riding hazards such as rocks, stumps and logs are lurking below the surface in many areas. In glaciated terrain new snow on the surface might be just enough to hide open crevasses where supportive snow bridges have not yet developed.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.