Many reports of skier triggered avalanches from neighboring areas over the last two days failing in the top 60cm. The snowpack in Glacier Park is very similar to these places so using conservative terrain is highly recommended.
Weather Forecast
Unstable weather pattern over the Interior will keep the skies mainly cloudy today. Lingering flurries are expected with freezing levels to remain below 1500m. Larger diurnal temperature swings are expected for Tuesday and Wednesday before a high pressure ridge sets in and delivers steady warm air into the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
45-50cm of recent storm snow above 1800m, much of that fell as rain below that elevation. The upper 50cm of the snowpack is moist at 1900m with a complex mix of crusts, facetted snow and spotty surface hoar which have been reactive to skier triggering as slab and loose avalanches. The mid Feb surface hoar layer is down ~75cm.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday, neighboring backcountry users reported touchy conditions outside the Park releasing avalanches and remotely triggering them 30-60cm deep. Numerous loose avalanches from solar radiation on south aspects in the highway corridor. From two days ago a there was a natural avalanche cycle with numerous slab and loose avalanches to size 3.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.