Regions
Northwest Inland.
Snowfall amounts will vary throughout the region. Pay close attention to how much snow fell in your area, and choose terrain accordingly.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations
Weather Forecast
Some clearing today and into Tuesday but by Wednesday, a Pacific low will deliver another round of moderate snowfall into the Northwest Inland area. bringing 10 to 20cm at upper elevations. Ridgetop winds will decrease somewhat on Tuesday, and then ramp up to strong and southwesterly with the incoming system late Wednesday and into Thursday Freezing levels should hover around 1000m for the forecast period, dipping overnight Tuesday and Wednesday to adound400 m..
Avalanche Summary
There were a few recent reports of wind slabs to size 2 occurring on north and east-facing terrain at treeline and above. In addition, local skiers are reporting activity on solar aspects. With incoming storms, more wind slab development ( and avalanches ) can be expected.
Snowpack Summary
10-20cm of snow and strong SW winds from the previous storm built reactive wind slabs in exposed lee terrain. Snow and winds on Sunday have added size and destructive potential to the developing wind slab problem. There are a variety of interfaces including older wind slabs, hard crusts, surface hoar, and/or surface facets buried below the recent storms snow. At the base of the snowpack, weak facets may be found. Cornices are getting to be large and potentially unstable. Solar aspects may become active in the afternoons.
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.