Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Purcells.
Avalanche danger will remain elevated as the snowpack adjusts to the weight of the new snow. Deep instabilities in the lower snowpack are expected to persist for long periods of time.
Confidence
Moderate - Uncertainty is due to extremely variable snowpack conditions reported through the region.
Weather Forecast
Monday Night: Clear periods, alpine temperature -10, strong northwest wind.
Tuesday: Cloudy with sunny breaks, alpine temperature -5, moderate northwest wind.
Wednesday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, alpine temperature -7, moderate west wind.
Thursday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, alpine temperature -6, moderate west wind.
Avalanche Summary
Reports of recent avalanche activity have been limited to explosive and skier controlled avalanches in the north of the region. On Sunday explosive and skier controlled avalanches were limited to size 1, releasing on the ground in shallow areas. On Saturday two explosive controlled size 2.5 storm slab avalanches on northeast aspects were reported in the alpine. These avalanches were triggered in thin snowpack areas and stepped down to the facets and depth hoar sitting on the ground.
Snowpack Summary
15-35 cm of storm snow from last week has covered surface hoar in sheltered areas and various wind-affected surfaces elsewhere. The old wind-affected snow sits over a crust on solar aspects in the alpine or a surface hoar/crust combination around treeline. This layer is buried 25-50 cm and seems to be isolated to the north of the region or areas with a relatively deeper snowpack.
There are a variety of crusts buried in the mid to lower snowpack. These crusts have begun to break down. The base of the snowpack generally consists of facets and depth hoar.