Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

Thursday night: Mainly cloudy with continuing isolated flurries bringing a trace of new snow. Moderate southwest winds, increasing to strong in the alpine.Friday: A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light to moderate southwest winds decreasing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -11.Saturday: Mainly cloudy. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9.Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -8.

Loose dry avalanches have recently been reported running in the weakening faceted (sugary) snow of the upper snowpack. Normally this is a "good skiing" avalanche problem of no real concern; however, they have been gradually growing in size and approaching size 2 (big enough to injure or bury a skier). A couple of small wind slabs were also recently reported. Previous loose dry and wind slab problems are a diminishing concern with new snow and wind forming new and likely touchier wind slabs.

Light new snow amounts have buried a mix of hard and soft wind slabs in open alpine terrain as well as pockets of soft snow in sheltered and shaded areas. The new snow has also buried widespread sun crusts of varying thickness on south-facing slopes.There are three layers of surface hoar that have the potential to remain preserved in the upper snowpack. One is down 30-50 cm, another is down 40-80 cm, and the last one is down 80-120 cm. These layers are most likely to be found between 1600 and 1900 m. The recent prolonged period of cold temperatures has been transforming the upper and mid snowpack into sugary, faceted grains, progressively eliminating the properties of a stiff overlying slab above these weak layers and diminishing concern for their potential to produce avalanches.The lower snowpack is maintaining strength in deeper snowpack areas.