If you venture into the alpine with the clear weather, be aware that old wind slabs linger and new ones could be forming . Cornices are large in some areas and could become active when it warms up in the afternoons. Deeper layers should still be on your mind outside the Lizard Range.
Winds do continue to blow at higher elevations and there is snow available for transport so continue to watch for wind slab development as you move through wind exposed terrain.
A layer of faceted grains near the base of the snowpack remains on the radar for areas of this region where the snowpack is shallow and where a hard melt-freeze crust formed around Christmas does not exist. This describes most areas outside the Lizard Range such as the Bull River, Flathead, and Elkford.
No avalanches of note have been reported in the area over the last few days.
Dry Loose avalanches to size 1 were reported from steep, confined upper elevation features.
Up to 10 cm of new snow filled with graupel sits on top of previously wind impacted snow. The middle of the snowpack is well consolidated and sits on a thick crust. The bottom of the snowpack still consists of weak, sugary crystals that are slowly gaining strength in areas with a deeper snowpack.
Cornices continue to grow with the wind.
Deep persistent slab avalanches should still be on your radar in areas outside of the Lizard Range such as the Bull River, Elkford, and the Flathead.
Wednesday night
Clear. Winds from the southwest at 15 km/h. Temperature dipping down to -10˚C.
Thursday
Clear. Winds from the southwest at 20 km/h. Temperature -10˚C in the morning rising to -3˚C in the afternoon. Solar effect is likely.
FridayClouds returning. Flurries delivering 2 - 4 cm of snow. Winds from the southwest at 20 km/h
SaturdayCloudy. 5 cm of new snow. Winds from the southwest at 20 km/h. Temperature -4˚C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
