Keep an eye on changing conditions.
Small wind slabs have likely formed near ridge crests.
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 formed as a result of moderate southwest winds and light snowfall. In areas protected from the wind, expect surface hoar to be buried.
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.
Friday Night
Cloudy with snowfall 5 to 10 cm. 40 to 80 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with around light snowfall 1 to 3 cm . 40 to 60 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
Sunday
Clearing throughout the day. 30 to 50 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Monday
Mix of sun and cloud. 30 to 60 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
