East Cabinet Mountains

Avalanche problems

• 

  Storm Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline

  Likelihood

  Likely

  Size

  1.5–3

  Heavy storm snow swept through the area on Sunday with strong westerly winds. In much of our area this new snow fell on a weak surface crust layer that will bond poorly and create dangerous avalanche conditions today. Open terrain that is exposed to the wind may be scoured near ridgelines and summits. Steep terrain directly below ridgelines and in steep gullies will likely be loaded with cohesive slabs of snow and should be avoided today.

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline

  Likelihood

  Possible

  Size

  1.5–3

  In the Purcell Range we are finding a couple of concerning weak layers within the snowpack that are unlikely to be an issue in the East or West Cabinets. In some locations we are finding weak sugary snow on top of the February 3rd crust layer that resulted in propagation on Flatiron Mountain yesterday. This seems to be representative of thinner snowpack locations in the Purcell's and unlikely to be found outside of that range. We are also finding a layer of buried surface hoar roughly a foot below the snowpack surface that is generating some reactive results. With a heavy snow load predicted to fall this week it is possible we will see this weak layer fail and produce some avalanches. This layer of surface hoar is sandwiched between some relatively soft snow, so it shouldn't be a long-term concern as a heavy snow load should smash it out in the coming days.