Recent snow, continued flurries, and wind continue to promote slab development at upper elevations.
Flurries and recent snow has been and continues to be redistributed by wind. Wind slabs will be most reactive around ridges and in leeward terrain.
Monday Night: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm. Alpine temperature -6 C. South-southwest wind, 35 km/hr gusting to 70 km/hr.
Tuesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries, 5-10 cm. Alpine temperature -6 C. West wind, 25-45 km/hr.
Wednesday: Mainly cloudy. Alpine temperature -7 C. Southwest wind, 30-50 km/hr.
Thursday: Snow, 10-35 cm. Alpine temperature -4 C. Southwest wind 50-85 km/hr.
There have been no recent reports of avalanche activity.
15-30 cm of snow fell in the region early last week and flurries continue to contribute to totals. Moderate south-southwesterly winds have since developed wind slabs, especially around ridge features and into the alpine.
Reports suggest there are 2 buried layers of surface hoar in the upper snowpack - one down 15-25 cm below the new snow, and another down 25-40. Where wind has scoured the snowpack, a crust from November is at or near the surface. In leeward terrain, this crust is 40-80 cm deep, and may include surface hoar in sheltered openings up to treeline.
Older crusts can be found deeper in the snowpack and are generally breaking down. In areas with a relatively thin snowpack, the base of the snowpack likely consists of weak faceted grains.
