Avalanche Forecast

FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy skies, no precipitation, moderate to strong wind from the southwest, treeline temperatures around -5 C.

SATURDAY: Cloudy with flurries starting in the morning and 5-15 cm of snow by the late afternoon, strong wind from the southwest, treeline temperatures around -5 C.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries bringing another 10-25 cm of snow, wind easing off throughout the day with mostly light northeast gusts, treeline temperatures drop to -15 C throughout the day.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny, moderate wind from the northeast, treeline temperatures around -18 C.

Avalanche activity over the past few days has been limited to small (size 1) slab and loose avalanches in steep alpine terrain. With the incoming storm we could expect to see larger wind slabs form at upper elevations. 

New snow will form some isolated wind slabs at upper elevations and bring 5 to 15 cm of low density snow in sheltered terrain. Roughly 5 to 15 cm of snow sits above hard wind-affect snow and melt-freeze crusts in most terrain, except north-facing terrain at treeline where there may still be soft snow. Some small surface hoar may be found above the crust in sheltered terrain. A buried surface hoar layer can be found 15 to 30 cm deep on north-facing slopes around treeline. Although this layer has been reactive in snowpack tests, avalanches have not recently been triggered on this layer. The snowpack below is well consolidated, with a crust/facet layer found near the bottom of the snowpack.

• Fresh wind slabs will likely form throughout the day, diligently watch for changing conditions.
• Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind loaded snow.