Regions
Northwest Inland.
Strong winds are redistributing the new storm snow, building thicker, reactive slabs. Stick to simple terrain and watch for whumphing and cracking below your feet. Continue to make observations while you travel.
Confidence
Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable
Weather Forecast
Saturday: Mainly cloudy. New snow 5-10 cm accompanied by strong westerly ridgetop winds. Alpine temperatures near -7 and freezing levels 900 m.Sunday: Mix of sun and clouds with isolated flurries. Ridgetop wind strong from the West and freezing levels near 800 m.Monday: Cloudy with new snow 3-8 cm. Ridgetop wind strong from the West. Alpine temperatures near -4 and freezing levels 1200 m.
Avalanche Summary
On Friday, no new observations were reported. I suspect a widespread natural cycle continued up to size 3. Given the weather forecast storm slabs and wind slabs will continue to be reactive throughout the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 20 cm of new snow brings the recent storm snow up to 35 cm in some locations. Strong easterly winds have redistributed the new snow onto leeward aspects forming thicker slabs. Forecast winds from the southwest will likely build new wind slabs on easterly aspects. The new snow will likely have a poor bond initially to the underlying snow surfaces which consist of surface hoar (buried March 9th and 19th) on northerly aspects in higher elevation bands and firm melt-freeze crusts at treeline and below.In the mid-pack, a surface hoar and crust layer from January is buried around 80 to 140 cm in the southwest of the region. This layer is currently unreactive, however, may have the potential to be triggered from a thin snowpack spot, or with a large trigger like a cornice fall.Sugary facets exist at the bottom of the snowpack in steep, rocky, and shallow snowpack areas.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.