Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

A chance of light flurries overnight and during the day on Wednesday combined with moderate Southwest winds and temperatures around -10 in the alpine. The next storm should hit the coast early Thursday morning and then quickly move inland where it is expected to collide with the arctic air descending from the North. Expect 5-10 mm of precipitation that may be 10-20 cm of snow combined with strong Southwest winds and alpine temperatures which may be warmer than the valleys as the warm Pacific air moves over the cold arctic air. Expect another 8-12 mm of precipitation that may be 15-25 cm of snow by Friday morning and another 10-20 cm during the day. The storm should continue through Saturday.

There were numerous small size 1.0 Loose dry and soft storm slab avalanches releasing at the storm snow/crust interface, or pockets of wind transported snow at ridgetops.

The new storm slab is 30-50 cm and sits on a variety of old surfaces. A crust can be found below about 1900m in the north of the region and below 2200m in the south of the region. At higher elevations the new snow covers old wind slabs formed by moderate southwest winds. Several persistent week layers can be found deeper in the snowpack that may be capped by the overlying crust at lower elevations. The mid-January surface hoar is buried between 40 and 80cm down and remains a concern at treeline and above. The mid-December surface hoar layer is now 80 to 140cm below the surface and appears to be slowly gaining strength.