Northwest Inland

The avalanche danger will rise during the day if the forecast for strong solar radiation holds true.

Fair - Due to limited field observations

Thursday: A mix of sun and cloudy with a chance of flurries - 2-5cm. The freezing level should rise to 800m during the day. Winds are moderate from the southeast. Friday and Saturday: A ridge of high pressure builds in giving drier and sunnier conditions. The freezing level bounces from valley bottom overnight to around 1000m during the day. Winds are generally light from the south.

No new slab avalanches have been reported in the past day or two, although observations were quite limited on Tuesday. There were a few reports of cornice failures on the weekend, but most did not trigger slabs.

Up to 25cm of new snow covers the previous surface which included a sun crust on southerly aspects, surface facets or surface hoar in cool shady areas, and pockets of wind slab in exposed terrain. Moderate southerly winds have created new wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded terrain. The mid February persistent weak layer interface, comprised of spotty surface hoar, facets and crusts, is buried 80-120 cm below the surface. No recent activity has been reported on this interface. However, recent snowpack tests have been giving hard but sudden "pop" results and indicate it is has the potential to react given the right trigger in the right place. For route selection, it should still be on your radar and is more likely to be triggered on steeper, unsupported terrain. Cornices in the area are reported to be very large and primed for natural collapse or triggering by a person.