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Confidence
Poor - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
A dry arctic ridge will dominate the region for the forecast period. Skies will be mainly clear with ridge top temperatures hovering at about -25, and moderate northeasterly winds.
Avalanche Summary
Wind slabs to size 2.5 were observed in high elevation terrain in the south of the region on Saturday. In one reported case, a wind slab in motion stepped down to the buried December crust.
Snowpack Summary
On the surface, up to 30cm of low-density snow exists. In the alpine and at treeline, strong to locally extreme winds have been conducive to blowing this snow into large and reactive wind slabs in exposed lee areas. 50 - 70 cm below the surface (more in wind affected areas) you may find a crust which formed in December. The crust, which may have surface hoar on top of it, may extend into the alpine to at least 2100 m. Where the crust exists, it may be bridging triggers from penetrating to deeper persistent weaknesses that formed earlier in the season. However, on high alpine slopes above where the rain crust formed, or in areas where rain didn't occur, deeply buried facets may still be susceptible to triggers.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.