New snow and strong southerly winds have created reactive storm slabs.
Choosing conservative terrain is essential during this period of stormy weather.
New snow and wind will stress weak layers. Surface hoar and facets buried in the upper snowpack have produced recent avalanches. Large loads or step-downs could trigger layers buried deeper in the snowpack.
Two layers of surface hoar that formed in early and mid-March exist within the top 125cm of the snowpack.
Several natural persistent slab avalanches up to size 3 were reported on Thursday, failing on the mid-March or early March surface hoar layers.
20-50 cm of recent snow has accumulated over previously wind-affected surfaces and crusts on steep south-facing terrain.
Three layers of concern currently exist in the upper-mid snowpack. Surface hoar that formed in mid-March can be found 65 to 85 cm below the snow surface. Below this, another layer of surface hoar that formed in early March can be found at a depth of 90 to 125 cm. Additionally, a layer of facets, surface hoar, and/or a crust from mid-February is buried 80 to 180 cm deep.
The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated, and there are no current concerns.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Monday
Cloudy with flurries. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C as freezing levels rise to 1200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
