A little bit of new snow may cover some of the early-season obstacles. Keep your guard up and continue to watch for shallow snowpack areas.
The base of our thin snowpack is weak and faceted. Steep pockets of deeper, wind-loaded snow are the most likely to break away from this weak base under the weight of a person or machine.
New snow will bury various surfaces; surface hoar in sheltered terrain, heavily wind-affected in open alpine, melt-freeze crusts on steep solar aspects, and faceted soft snow.
A crust with facets or depth hoar exists at or near the ground. The snowpack is shallower than average for this time of year, with depths at treeline ranging from 20 -50 cm and tapers rapidly below.
Expect early season conditions.
Friday Night
Cloudy with isolated flurries. Minimal accumulations. Southwest wind 20 to 25 km/h. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated flurries continuing from overnight. 3 to 5 cm accumulations. Southwest wind 30 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with flurries 3 to 5 cm accumulation. Southwest wind 25 to 40 km/h, increasing, strongest in the alpine. Treeline temperatures -8 °C.
Monday
A mix of sun and clouds, scattered flurries, trace accumulations. Westerly winds 20 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperatures -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
