The stabilization process is taking its time with the last storm interface. Avoiding avalanche terrain makes sense right now. The SPAW is still in effect for Tues. Click the link for details or the facebook page.
Weather Forecast
Mixed skies are on for tomorrow. The sun has started to pack a punch lately, so expect a fair amount of solar heating. The ambient high at 2500m will be around -5. Ridge winds will range from 10-30 km/hr from the west. The general pattern continues to be from the north west with a slight northerly shift on Wed.
Avalanche Summary
There are many avalanches out there at the moment. A very large natural avalanche was noted today on Mt. Worthington. Sz3.5, 2700m, SE aspect, 50 degree slope, 1.5m deep by 500m wide. Unknown trigger.
Snowpack Summary
Valley bottom saw a dusting overnight, nothing significant enough to change the conditions. There is a 2cm thick breakable, temperature crust that extends up to the 2100m mark. This is likely higher on south & south-west aspects. The snowpack doesn't gain any significant structure until 2000-2100 meter mark. At that point the midpack gains strength, but the weak bottom layers are present. Treeline has a variety of buried windslabs that are sitting on the Jan 31st layer. The depth of this layer varies greatly. In windloaded terrain it is down as much as 120cm's, and in more windward areas it is down 40-60cm's. Any recent activity has initiated on this layer and quickly stepped to the deeper, basal layers. The alpine has more widespread windloading with the typical crossloading pattern.
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.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.