There was a decline in Natural avalanche activity on Thursday but conditions are still touchy. Now is NOT the time for big objective, it IS the time for conservative choices. Be aware, many accidents happen immediately after a natural avi cycle!
Weather Forecast
The main pulse of the storm is now past us and an arctic high to the north will begin to bring clear skies and cooler temps into the forecast region. Winds will becoming more NW'erly over the next 24hrs but they are forecast to stay in the moderate to light range. Lots of snow is available for transport so be sure to keep an eye on the winds and there is a definite potential for some reverse loading over the next few days.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous slab avalanches up to size 2 were observed in steep open terrain below 2150m. These slides were only 30-40cm deep and likely failing on the 0106SH interface. In the alpine, numerous slabs avalanche on steep south facing slopes were observed up to size 2.5. These avalanches were failing within the storm snow and running to the top of their normal runouts. Numerous loose dry sluffs up to sz 1.5 were also observed.
Snowpack Summary
An additional 24cm of snow fell overnight bringing our totals over the past week to 50cm of snow at lower elevations and closer to 70cm at higher elevations. Widespread storm slabs can now be found in alpine terrain. These slabs vary from 30-50cm thick. These slabs are overlying the 0106 Surface hoar/Facet interface. The surface hoar is most prevalent below 2100m and more spotty in nature above this elevation. At higher elevations, winds have developed stiff windslabs that are failing on this interface in the easy range in test results. There was no evidence of any avalanches stepping down to any deeper instabilities.
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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.