Regions
Northwest Coastal.
Have a safe and fun new year!
Weather Forecast
Monday night and Tuesday: The weak frontal systems weakens out and gives place to dryer conditions and moderate Westerly winds switching from the South on Tuesday. Broken cloud cover is expected. Temperatures are expected to be quite mild in the alpine afternoon due to an inversion (above freezing levels between 1100 m. and 2200 m.) Wednesday: A new frontal system is arriving which could give considerable amounts of precipitation on the Northern part of the region (in the 20-25 cm range) with strong SW winds. Thursday: More moderate precipitation is expected to continue and looks like winds would slow down and temperatures warm up slightly.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed recently.
Snowpack Summary
New wind slabs are suspected to be touchy on lee side of ridges in the alpine and at treeline, especially on solar aspects in the inversion altitude band. In sheltered areas, the new snow could hide older windslabs. The mid-pack is generally well settled. In sheltered areas and below treeline, 30 cm of low density snow overlies a stiffer base. Near the base of the snowpack, a crust/facet layer is still lingering but we have no recent information about its reactivity. I suspect that this weakness is unlikely to be triggered by a single person, but that it would remain possible with a very heavy load (e.g. cornice fall) or from a thin-spot trigger point.
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.