Fresh and reactive wind slabs may form at treeline and above as westerly winds increase on Wednesday.
Start conservative and watch for signs of instability like cracking or whumpfing.
Fresh and reactive wind slabs could form on Wednesday. Especially at ridgeline and in exposed terrain features.
Expect sluffing or isolated storm slabs in wind protected areas, like the trees.
No recent avalanche reports.
Fresh wind slabs could be sensitive to human triggering, especially on open slopes and terrain features near ridgelines.
If you head into the backcountry, consider submitting a MIN report.
10 to 20 cm of new snow fell on Sunday and Monday. This brings storm snow accumulations around 40 to 70 cm over the past week.
Stiffer wind-affected snow may be found near ridgelines and on open slopes. The surface snow remains soft in wind protected areas, like the trees.
Below the surface, the upper snowpack is more consolidated and reports indicate it may sit on a layer of surface hoar buried 50-60 cm down.
The bottom of the snowpack has a crust from early November that is just above the ground.
Snowpack depth is 100 - 180 cm at treeline.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy with clear periods. 10 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 35 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Thursday
Cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 800 m.
Friday
Cloudy with isolated flurries. 15 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
