Avalanche Forecast

Unsettled conditions with light flurries on Wednesday followed by a few days of dry weather. 

TUESDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with some isolated flurries, localized accumulations of 2-8 cm, moderate west wind, freezing level drops to valley bottom, alpine temperatures drop to -8 C.

WEDNESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light northwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1300 m in the afternoon, alpine temperatures reach -4 C.

THURSDAY: Sunny with a few clouds in the afternoon, light southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1300 m in the afternoon, alpine temperatures reach -4 C.

FRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1500 m in the afternoon, alpine temperatures reach -2 C.

No recent avalanches have been reported, but there has been very limited mountain travel and field observations over the past few days. Light flurries could form thin wind slabs that have potential to be reactive above the surface hoar that formed over the past week.

A light dusting of snow sits above a variable mix of crusts, moist snow, and hard old wind slabs. The snow may also sit above some small surface hoar on shaded aspects. There is some uncertainty about how well the new snow will bond to these interfaces. Weak layers in the upper snowpack have trended towards dormancy. The most prominent and widespread layer was buried in late February and is now 40 to 80 cm deep. This layer was most commonly found in open trees and has produced a few isolated avalanches over the past month.

• Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
• Avoid terrain traps where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.