Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

• Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.
• Uncertainty is due to the complexity of the snowpack’s structure.

A field team was out along the spray today and walked in to Commonwealth valley. No new avalanches were observed. Significant evidence of previous cycle in the last 72 hours is evident in most avalanche terrain.

This last storm has given us between 50-70cm of snow in the last 4 days. Extensive wind slabs can be found in the Alpine and lee features at treeline. These wind slabs are likely to be reactive to skier traffic. A previous wind slab from Monday can be found down about 50-80cm and was sitting on a softer layer of decomposed crystals that should be investigated for its reactivity. The November crust is now down 100+cm. Any avalanche triggered in the upper snowpack has a strong likelihood to step down to deeper instabilities. Now is a time to avoid exposure to avalanche terrain and give time for the snowpack to settle and stabilize.

Some forecasts are calling for varying amounts of snow on Saturday. 2-12cm possible.

The winds will continue in the strong range (60km/h) out of the West at ridgetop. However lower down in elevation winds will be much lighter

Overnight low temp of -16 warming through the day to -11

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
• Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.