Recent snowfall has created a widespread storm slab. When the sun comes out expect the slab to become more touchy and natural avalanche activity to pick up!
Weather Forecast
Today will be cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. A trace amount of precip is forecast today. Ridgetop wind will be southwesterly 15-30kph with freezing level up to 600m. No significant precip is forecast until later in the week but convective flurries are possible which could significantly boost snowfall amounts.
Snowpack Summary
20 cms of new snow in the last 48 hrs. This buries firm wind slab on all aspects above tree line and on solar aspects it buries a crust. The late Feb crust/facet combo is down 30-50cm on solar aspects and has potential to be a good bed surface. The January PWL's are buried 150-200cm
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday's snowfall produced a natural avalanche cycle to size 3. Field teams observed a touchy storm stab in leeward features treeline and above. A party in the Loop Brook drainage noted an avalanche from Mt Ross that ran into the creek at the valley bottom covering previous ski tracks.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.