A significant amount (60cms!) of new snow has fallen on a mix of surface hoar and sun-crust in the past 24-48 hours.
Human triggered avalanches are very likely.
Significant snowfall and strong gusting winds are forecast overnight on Saturday. This new snow sits on a widespread surface hoar layer. Expect to see large natural avalanches Saturday overnight and into Sunday. This storm slab will be easy for riders to trigger.
A natural avalanche cycle is currently underway with highway avalanche control occurring at the time of writing this bulletin.
Earlier in the week we saw multiple loose wet avalanches up to size 1.5 from the warming temps.
60cm of new snow sits on a layer of surface hoar. In the alpine & tree-line elevation bands, this new snow sits on a sun crust on steep solar aspects.
There is a dense well settled mid-pack without any significant weak layers.
The Nov 9 crust is down 1-1.5m. The base of the snowpack is comprised of several dense, melt-freeze rain crusts formed in October.
The Storm continues through Saturday night bringing more new snow and a spike in the wind.
Tonight: 15cms. Alp low -9°C, Strong to Extreme West winds, Freezing Level (FZL) valley bottom.
Sun: Trace precip, Alp high -8°C, Moderate SW winds, , FZL 1000m
Mon: Cloudy with flurries, Alp high -6°C, light W winds. FZL valley bottom.
Tues: Cloudy with sunny periods, Alp high -10°C, Light SW winds, FZL valley bottom.
