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Weather Forecast
Low pressure off the coast of Alaska will continue to bring a series of snow storms to the Interior. Precipitation amounts will be light today and will become moderate this evening into tonight. Winds are expected to stay light to moderate from the north switching to the south. Temperatures will stay in the -10 to -15 range until Monday.
Snowpack Summary
30cm of low density storm snow now covers recently formed wind slabs in exposed areas. The Dec 17th surface hoar layer is down 70-90cm sitting on top of a thick rain crust facet combo below 2100m and sitting on a settled mid-pack above. This layer is widespread and continues to be reactive to the load of a rider, especially at treeline.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday, in the highway corridor 3 natural avalanches, size 2 to 2.5. 2 days ago, there was a size 2 skier triggered avalanche on a north aspect at treeline on surface hoar buried 60cm.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.