Avalanche Forecast

Thursday night: Cloudy, light to moderate southwest wind, freezing level dropping to 800 m, alpine temperatures reach -6 C.

Friday: Cloudy, isolated flurries with trace accumulations, light to moderate southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1500 m in the afternoon, alpine temperatures reach -3 C.

Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud, isolated flurries with trace accumulations, light southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1700 m, alpine temperatures reach -1 C. 

Sunday: Increasing cloud, 5-10 cm of snow, moderate southwest wind, freezing level climbing to 1800 m, alpine temperatures reach -1 C. 

No recent avalanches have been reported, but mountain travel and field observations have been very limited over the past few days. Recent snow could form thin wind slabs with the potential to be reactive above the surface hoar that formed over the past week.

Incremental flurries over the past several days may have accumulated up to 10 cm. This snow sits above a variable mix of crusts, moist snow, and hard old wind slabs. It may also sit above some small surface hoar on shaded aspects. There is some uncertainty about how well the new snow will bond to these interfaces. Weak layers in the upper snowpack have trended towards dormancy. The most prominent and widespread layer was buried in late February and is now 40 to 80 cm deep. This layer was most commonly found in open trees and has produced a few isolated avalanches over the past month.

• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Avoid terrain traps where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.