Watch for wind slab in unusual areas from strong northwest winds.
Factor cold temperatures and wind chill in your trip plan this weekend.
Expect fresh wind slabs to be forming from northwest winds. Watch for reverse-loading patterns.
Wind slabs may step down to deeper weak layers, producing large avalanches.
During the storm on Tuesday, operators reported up to size 3 avalanches from natural and human triggers. Explosive control work continued on Wednesday producing size 1 in wind loaded features and up to size 2.5 in steep and unsupported terrain.
A machine remotely triggered an avalanche on a northeast facing slope at treeline on Tuesday. It's unknown what layer this avalanche failed on, likely within the recent storm snow or on the buried melt freeze crust.
Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow overlies wind-affected surface in exposed areas and in sheltered areas a weak layer of surface hoar. Northwest winds are expected to build wind slabs at higher elevations.
A melt-freeze crust is found 60-80 cm deep and becomes thin and variable above 1900 m.
Another crust from early Dec is 80-150 cm deep. A few large avalanches observed in the region on January 6 are suspected to have failed on this layer. While this layer is now less likely to produce avalanches, it is most likely triggered in high elevation areas where the snowpack is thin and shallow.
Snowpack depths are 120-230 cm around treeline and decrease rapidly below.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy with isolated flurries. Northerly winds 20-40 km/h. Treeline temperatures drop to -22 °C.
Friday
Sunny with northerly winds 20-40 km/h. Treeline temperatures drop to -25 °C.
Saturday
Sunny with northerly winds 15-30 km/h. Treeline temperatures reach -15 °C.
Sunday
Sunny with northerly winds 20-30 km/h. Treeline temperatures reach -10 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
