Avalanche Forecast

High -

SUNDAY NIGHT: Clear skies, light to moderate north wind, alpine temperature -15 C.MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light to moderate northwest wind, alpine temperature -14 C.TUESDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 1 to 5 cm, moderate west wind, alpine temperature -13 C.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 1 to 3 cm, moderate north wind, alpine temperature -14 C.

On Saturday, a persistent slab avalanche was triggered by a skier on a north aspect on a 30 degree slope. Check out the MIN report here. These sorts of avalanches continue to be triggered by skiers and riders in the region. Otherwise, there was also evidence of large avalanches (up to size 3) that were triggered by strong wind in the north of the region.On Friday, two more small to large (size 1 to 2) persistent slab avalanches were triggered by skiers. They were 50 to 70 cm deep and released on the mid-January surface hoar layer described in the Snowpack Summary. The occurred at treeline and alpine elevations on north to northwest aspects.

Strong wind from variable directions but most recently from the north has blown around 5 to 10 cm of snow into wind slabs in exposed terrain.A touchy weak layer responsible for surprise avalanches and several close calls lies approximately 30 cm below the surface in shallow snowpack areas and 60 cm or more in deeper areas. This weak layer of surface hoar and faceted grains was buried mid-January. On southerly aspects, it lies on top of a melt-freeze crust. It is most prevalent at treeline and below treeline elevations, but there have been a few reports of its presence in sheltered areas in the alpine. This layer is shallow enough to be triggered but deep enough to produce large avalanches.Deeper layers in the snowpack are not a factor at this time.