Watch for reactive pockets where dry snow is moved by the wind.
At upper elevations, forecast wind will quickly find remaining dry snow in steep, open, and alpine-like features. Be most suspicious of deeper, loaded pockets around sharp changes in terrain.
No new avalanches have been reported in the region.
Sun and warm temperatures quickly encouraged 20 cm accumulated by Friday morning to settle. This covered moist snow above 1300 m and a new breakable crust below this elevation, a result of rain-then-snow over the course of the storm. This rain saturated as much as 70 cm that accumulated above 700 m from the previous storm pulse at the end of last week.
These upper snowpack characteristics top a melt-freeze crust that is now likely breaking down where it was thinnest. The crust was previously up to 10 cm thick at lower elevations and tapered to 1 cm thick on shaded or high-elevation terrain. A few cm of softer snow recently found immediately below this crust is almost certainly now settled and bonded along with the remainder of the snowpack beneath it.
Friday night
Cloudy and unsettled with isolated flurries. West-northwest wind easing to light. Treeline low temperature -6 C.
Saturday
Cloudy and unsettled. West wind increasing to 30-40 km/hr. Treeline high temperature -3 C.
SundayFlurries and rain, 5mm. West wind 50-70 km/hr. Treeline high temperature +2 C. Freezing level rising above 2000 m.
MondayRain, 5-15 mm. Gusty and strong northwest winds. Treeline high temperature +4 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
