It has been very snowy and WINDY!
Extreme winds may have created reactive slabs further down in paths than you might expect.
Stick to sheltered terrain for the best riding quality and be diligent with your group management.
Strong gusty winds will continue to redistribute the large volumes of recent storm snow, and build reactive slabs. These slabs may run farther than expected on a thin crust that formed on Dec 15th. Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
It has been another active week of natural and artillery controlled avalanches.
A widespread cycle of natural avalanches occurred on Tuesday night into Wednesday. These avalanches were up to sz 3.0, initiating in the storm snow and running on a crust bed surface.
Avalanche activity continued Thursday and avalanche control Thursday evening produced avalanches up to size 3.0, running into below treeline elevations.
This week's 60-80 cm of settling storm snow has been redistributed by strong to extreme southerly winds. Beneath this recent storm snow a thin crust in exists up to ~ 2300m. This crust is a solid bed surface for avalanches to run on.
This December alone, 345 cm of snow has fallen at treeline. This has settled to ~140cm of snow overlying the November rain crust. A spotty layer of surface hoar is just above the Nov Crust and exists at treeline in sheltered areas.
Arctic air pushing southward is interacting with the Pacific moisture stream. Expect snow and gusty winds over the next several days.
Tonight Flurries, 5cm. Low -13°C. Winds SW 30-55km/hr. FZL (freezing level) at valley bottom
Sat Flurries, 13cm. High -10°C. Wind SW 40-70km/hr. FZL 700m
Sun Snow 15cm. High -9°C. Wind SW 35-55km/hr. FZL 1000m
Mon Flurries, 8cm. High -9°C. Wind SW 35-50km/h
