Danger levels will rise with increased snowfall and moderate winds expected to arrive sometime later on Tuesday. Pay attention to localized conditions.
Confidence
Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Tuesday should be cloudy with light flurries and accumulations up to 5cm. Winds will be out of the West gusting to 45km/h. Forecasts are in disagreement, but Tuesday night and Wednesday morning could see heavy snow with as much as 30cm possible.
Avalanche Summary
Several small sluffs up to size 1.0 occurred in steep Alpine and Treeline terrain on all aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 5cm low density snow fell in the past 24hrs. Previously formed sun crusts on solar aspects are now buried beneath the most recent snow. Wind slabs between 20 and 40cm thick are found in the Alpine and open areas at Treeline, but seem confined to immediately below ridge-crests. The Feb 10th persistent weak layer down 80 to 120cm remains a concern and has been the failure plane for natural and human-triggered slides in the past week.
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.
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.