Avalanche Forecast

Sunday night: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing less than 5 cm of new snow. Light south or southeast winds.

Monday: Continuing isolated flurries and a further trace of new snow. Light south or southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -10.

Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light to moderate south or southeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -13.

Wednesday: Mainly cloudy. Light south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -12.

No new reports in the last few days. Looking forward, small new wind slabs may form in lee pockets where enough new snow accumulates on Monday. 

Earlier in the week, reports from the northern part of the region included a natural wind slab avalanche size 1.5 at treeline and a few cornice falls up to size 2. Some of the cornice falls triggered wind slab avalanches up to size 2 in the slopes below. None of these large loads triggered deep persistent layers.

A dusting of new snow has begun to accumulate on generally hard surfaces throughout the region; old stiff wind slab at upper elevations and a crust below 1600 m and on south aspects. In the recent cool, clear weather, crystals such as surface hoar and facets have formed on top of these old surfaces. This setup will become problematic in places where enough new snow accumulates to form fresh wind slabs.

In the south, the underlying snowpack is well consolidated. In the north, remnants of a melt-freeze crust from early December may be found 100 to 200 cm deep. Recent reports and snow profiles suggest that this layer is decomposing and/or bonding to surrounding snow and trending dormant, at least for now.

• Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
• Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.