Our snowpack is losing its strength a little more each day. Watch for buried hazards as the snowpack becomes weaker.
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud tomorrow with an alpine high of -20. Winds will be light and swing around to the NE. Our models are also showing a temperature inversion starting tonight and running to Friday morning.
Avalanche Summary
Some small loose dry avalanches were observed on southern, alpine slopes.
Snowpack Summary
Not a lot of change out there in the last 24 hours. The cold snap has continued (-32 at Burstall parking this AM) which will keep the faceting trend going strong. Below treeline has nothing in the way of avalanche concerns. Treeline still has those surface windslabs in open, wind exposed areas. The cold will eventually lower the windslab problem, but for now they are front and center as the main treeline avalanche problem. They are 10-20cm thick, and because of the rotten snow underneath propagations may be surprisingly large The Nov 12th crust is down up to 60cm and is still intact, but sugary facets are immediately above and below. One more thing to ponder...above the Nov 12th there is a healthy layer of facets. It's thought that this layer will be entrained by any avalanche that may occur in the windslabs. Food for thought when thinking of a larger piece of terrain.The Alpine. Same as treeline, but a thicker surface slab. Awhile back we had a buried windslab that was an issue. In the last week or so that has blended with the the surface snow to create the current windslab issue. Snow depths are: Burstall Pass 90cm, Mud Lake 35, Aster Lake 90cm
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.