A week of cold clear weather. Watch for wind slabs lingering at higher elevations.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
Cool clear weather all week. Sunny with 30 km/h northeast winds and treeline temperatures around -8 C.
Avalanche Summary
Small wind slabs were reactive to human triggers on northerly aspects over the weekend (in the size 1-1.5 range). Wind slabs may continue to be reactive in the lee of exposed terrain at higher elevations.
Snowpack Summary
Strong winds and 5-15 cm of new snow over the weekend have formed fresh wind slabs in the lee of exposed terrain. The new snow sits above a thin breakable sun crust and isolated pockets of surface hoar, potentially creating weak interfaces for wind slabs to propagate along. Old lingering wind slabs may also exist in the immediate lee of ridges. A total of 60-120 cm of settled storm snow now forms the upper snowpack and is well generally bonded to a crust below. The exception may be thin rocky areas. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled, but still feature a number of facet and crust layers that warrant long term monitoring.
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.