Another beautiful day to recreate in the mountains. Expecting some light snow, and gusty upper elevation winds leading into the weekend.
Weather Forecast
Weather over the next week should remain a stable pattern. Cool overnight and temps rising to single digits over the day. Chance of scattered flurries with little accumulations. Temps and freezing levels will rise through the week, coupled with increased solar radiation, so expect the need apply some sunscreen over your day.
Snowpack Summary
Surface facetting has weakened the upper snowpack through the forecast region. Where the snow is shallow (like BTL), there is little support underfoot. The upper snowpack is generally 50 to 80 cm, over the seasonally persistent instability. Wind slabs and wind effect in open areas in the alpine and treeline elevations.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche activity observed or reported.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.