Keep an eye on changing conditions.
Small wind slabs may form near ridge crests throughout the day.
The wind has come from a variety of directions over the past couple days. Small wind slabs could be found in exposed terrain at treeline and above.
There have been no new reports of avalanches since Monday when explosive avalanche control produced several storm slabs up to size 2. Notably, these avalanches did not step down to the December persistent weak layer.
If you are headed into the backcountry please consider sharing your observations via the Mountain Information Network.
Throughout the day on Friday new wind slabs could form as a result of moderate southwest winds and light snowfall.
The upper snowpack contains a variety of layers including one or more surface hoar layers just below the surface in sheltered terrain and a crust on or near the surface on solar aspects.
Down 50 to 120 cm a weak layer of surface hoar or a facet/crust combo from early December can be found. Snowpack tests indicate it is slowly gaining strength.
The lower snowpack is generally strong and well-bonded.
Thursday Night
Mix of cloud and clear sky. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Friday
Cloudy with around 5 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Saturday
Clearing throughout the day. 30 to 50 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Sunday
Mix of sun and cloud. 25 to 40 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
