Moderate southwest wind has built wind slabs in lee features at treeline and above and may not bond well to the crust. Assess often as you transition into open terrain.
20 to 25 cm of accumulated snow and variable winds may have formed a wind slab over a supportive melt-freeze crust. Increasing southwest winds will likely develop new wind slabs on lee slopes.
On Sunday explosive control work initiated several size 1 to 1.5 storm and wind slab avalanches. Numerous size 1 wet loose avalanches occurred on steep solar slopes.
Data is limited in this region. Please consider posting your observations to the Mountain Information Network.
Accumulated storm snow and increasing winds will develop a wind slab over a widespread melt-freeze crust that can be found on all aspects and elevations. On solar-facing slopes, the melt-freeze crust is robust and supportive.
A second crust in the upper snowpack is down 20 to 40 cm, depending on aspect and elevation.
A persistent weak layer of facets sits atop a second buried crust down 100 to 180 cm. This layer is unlikely to be human-triggered in areas where a thick crust above the weak layer is present.
Sunday Night
Mainly cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5° C.
Monday
Mainly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3° C. Freezing level 2000 m.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy, scattered flurries 2 to 5 cm. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2° C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Wednesday
Mainly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h southwest wind. Treeline temperature -2° C. Freezing level 2000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
