The most likely place to trigger an avalanche is in wind-loaded terrain features. In the north island around Mt Cain, wind slabs may be especially reactive due to an underlying crust, which can act as a slick bed surface for avalanches.
Recent snow is most likely to remain reactive in wind-loaded deposits. In the north island around Mt Cain, wind slabs may sit on top of softer snow on a crust, which can act as a slick bed surface.
On Tuesday our field team observed several size 1-2 wind slab avalanches at Mt Cain which they estimated to be around 1-2 days old. Some of them failed down to a buried crust.
Small (size 1) natural and explosives triggered avalanches were reported from the Mt Washington area on Monday.
If you head into the backcountry please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network!
Small amounts of new snow continue to accumulate. 30-60 cm of recent snow has been blown into wind slabs at upper elevations.
A thick, widespread crust formed in mid February now sits 40-80 cm deep. Near Mt Cain, the crust is glassy with faceted crystals sitting on top of it, which makes for a poor bond to the overlying slab of snow. For more details, check out this reel from our field team! Elsewhere the crust seems to be bonding well. You can check the bond in your local area by performing a simple hand shear test on an isolated block.
The mid and lower snowpack is well consolidated, containing a series of well-bonded crusts.
Tuesday night
Scattered cloud with a trace of snow possible. Moderate southerly wind. Alpine low -8 ˚C.
Wednesday
Cloudy with scattered flurries and sunny breaks. Up to 5 cm of snow possible. Moderate southeasterly wind. Alpine high -2 ˚C.
ThursdayUp to 10 cm of new snow overnight then a mix of sun and cloud. Strong southeast wind. Alpine high -1˚C.
FridayA mix of sun and cloud. Light variable wind. Alpine high of 0 ˚C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
