Southwest winds have formed deposits of reactive wind slab.
Seek out sheltered terrain.
Southwest winds have formed reactive slabs on leeward terrain. These slabs will likely fail on firm, old surfaces.
Watch for corniced ridges, cross-loaded features, and convex rollovers.
Many size 2 explosive-triggered avalanches were reported in the Pass on Friday.
Several natural wind slab avalanches, up to size 2, were reported to have failed above the highway on Thursday night.
Otherwise, field observations have been limited. If you head into the backcountry, please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network.
Storm totals are expected to reach 50 cm by Sunday. Strong south winds have redistributed this snow into deep, reactive deposits on leeward terrain. This snow overlies firm surfaces and is not expected to bond well. In isolated areas, buried surface hoar may be found 60 to 75 cm deep. The mid-pack is generally strong and bridges the weak crystals at the base of the snowpack.
Freezing rain and warm temperatures yesterday may have created a surface crust up to 1500 m.
Saturday Night
Cloudy with 2 cm of new snow. 60 to 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around -2 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around 0 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Monday
Cloudy with a trace of snow flurries. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around -1°C. Freezing level 900 m.
Tuesday
Cloudy with a trace of snow flurries. 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around -1 °C. Freezing level 900 m.
For more details, see the Mountain Weather Forecast.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
