Forecasted snowfall amounts are highly variable, assess your local field conditions and if new snowfall accumulations exceed 20 cm bump your danger rating to CONSIDERABLE.
Facets and/or surface hoar buried 40 to 80 cm deep are most prominent at upper elevations where no surface crust has formed. Surface instabilities or large triggers may step down to these deeper layers.
Expect new wind slab formation on north aspect terrain, near and below ridge crests.
A natural wet slab avalanche was reported in the seton area at 1500 m that was likely triggered over the last weekend. The avalanche pulled out all the snow to the ground. Check out the MIN report here.
If you do observe an avalanche, please share your observations on the Mountain Information Network.
Up to 20 cm of new snow covers variably wind-affected snow in open terrain at upper elevations. A crust is found up to 2000 m and higher on solar slopes.
Below 1100 m the snowpack is wet and unconsolidated.
Two layers of concern currently exist in the upper-mid snowpack.
A layer of surface hoar that formed in early March can be found at a depth of 60 to 100 cm.
A layer of facets, surface hoar, and/or a crust from mid-February is buried 120 to 200 cm deep.
The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated, and there are no current concerns.
Friday Night
Cloudy with flurries. 40 to 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Saturday
Mix of sun and cloud with flurries. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1100 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with up to 10 cm snow. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing level 1100 m..
Monday
Cloudy with up to 10 cm snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing level 1100 m..
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
