Avalanche Forecast

THURSDAY NIGHT: 5-10 cm of new snow, moderate wind from the west, alpine temperatures drop to -10 C.

FRIDAY: Flurries with up to 5 cm of new snow and some sunny breaks, moderate wind with strong gusts from the west, alpine high temperatures around -8 C.

SATURDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, moderate wind from the southwest, alpine high temperatures around -6 C.

SUNDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind from the west, alpine high temperatures around -8 C.

Preliminary reports suggest more natural wind slab avalanches occurred on Thursday. On Wednesday natural wind slab avalanches (size 1-2) were reported on all aspects, several of which were triggered by falling cornices. On Tuesday there were reports of a few size 1 skier/rider triggered wind slab avalanches at treeline. There was a report of a remotely triggered (from a distance) size 2.5 deep persistent slab avalanche on Saturday. It was 130 cm deep and triggered in a shallow area at 2300 m on an east aspect.

20-60 cm of low density snow has fallen over the past week and has been blown into isolated wind slabs at upper elevations. This snow sits above a rain crust that extends up to about 1700 m. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled, however an aging weak layer of surface hoar from late December has been a recent concern in southern parts of the region on slopes between 1700-2400 m (above the crust elevation and below the most wind-affected elevations), and is currently buried 70 to 150 cm deep. A facet/crust layer from November may be found near the ground in shallower snowpack areas and has been suspected of being the cause of sporadic very large avalanches releasing in the past two weeks. Both of these weak layers have trended towards being unreactive under the current conditions.

• Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.
• Use caution when approaching steep and rocky terrian.
• Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.