Avalanche Forecast

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A Pacific low pressure system will continue to bring light precipitation to the region for a couple more days. For Tuesday overnight and Wednesday, 1-3mm of precipitation is forecast. Alpine winds are expected to be moderate to strong from the southwest and freezing levels are forecast to be at or near valley bottom. Thursday is expected to be unsettled as dry Arctic air replaces the Pacific low pressure system. 2-4mm of precipitation is forecast with sunny breaks in the afternoon. Freezing levels are expected to drop below valley bottom on Thursday night and remain there for the weekend. Dry and mostly sunny conditions are expected for Friday.

There are no recent avalanche observations from this region. Last Friday a MIN post reported a small slab that pulled out below a cornice. The slab was 15 cm deep by 30 m wide. If you are out in the mountains, please post your observations to the MIN.

Early season snowpack observations are still limited in the region but there is enough snow for avalanches at treeline and above. The average snowpack depth at treeline is reported to be around 60cm and 120cm or more in the alpine.  Surface snow tends to be variable with low density powder in sheltered areas, wind affected snow in exposed areas, and moist or wet snow at lower elevations. Recent strong southwest winds have likely formed wind slabs in leeward features at higher elevations. A series of crusts from early November are buried down 20-30cm and were showing sudden easy shears in snowpack tests last week. When traveling in the mountains with limited information, it is recommended to take an investigative approach and dig down to test for weak layers before committing to a slope.