Take a cautious approach to wind-loaded areas as southerly winds may be forming fresh, reactive wind slabs. As you travel through terrain be alert to changes with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
Southerly winds may have redistributed the surface snow into fresh wind slabs in lee areas. Use ribs and high points to avoid wind-loaded areas and watch for signs of instability throughout the day.
Over the past week, avalanche activity has been limited to a few small (size 1) wind slabs with the exception of one larger (size 2) wind slab that likely occurred on Monday (photos here).
Looking forward to Sunday, we suspect the overnight increasing southerly winds will have stiffened the upper snowpack and created fresh wind slabs in lee areas.
In wind-sheltered terrain, up to 10 cm of new snow overlies 30 to 40 cm of settling old storm snow, while exposed alpine terrain has likely been impacted by strong southerly winds. The recent snow is well bonded to underlying layers, with the possible exception of steep wind-loaded slopes. Snow depths at White Pass are around 100 cm in sheltered areas and closer to 200 cm on wind-loaded slopes.
Saturday night
Cloudy with flurries, up to 5 cm accumulation. Southerly winds increase 30-60 km/h. Alpine temperature -6 C, freezing level 300 m.
Sunday
Light snow ending in the morning, clearing skies. Ridgetop winds from the south 40 km/h easing to light. Freezing level drops to valley bottom with alpine temperatures around -7 C.
MondayA mix of sun and cloud, light southerly winds. Alpine temperatures around -13 C.
TuesdayPartially cloudy, light southerly winds. Alpine temperatures around -16 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
