Natural avalanches are not expected on Tuesday, but small windslabs in alpine lee areas remain a concern. Ice climbers kicking steps in steep, rocky snow slopes and riders in windloaded areas are the likely scenarios to encounter a windslab. Any avalanche could be a nasty ride with the shallow snowpack and early-season hazards.
Wind slab development has occurred due to previous winds accompanying the 15-20+ cm of snow on Nov 13th. 20-50 cm thick windslabs can be expected in alpine lee areas.
Ski areas are reporting a few small (size 1 to 1.5) explosive-triggered windslabs and wet slabs in isolated locations. No natural avalanche activity has been reported or observed.
Limited early-season observations indicate a generally well-settled Rockies snowpack with no significant weak layers. Last week's wet snow and rain left a rain crust (Nov 13) to 2300 m. In the short term, this adds stability to the snowpack and with 5-10 cm of dry snow on top, only isolated windslabs have been reported along with good early-season travel conditions. Treeline snow depths range from 40-70 cm.
Mild temperatures will continue for one more day, with Tuesday's freezing level remaining at 1900m through the day, along with 5-10 cm of snow accumulation with mostly light winds. Overnight Tuesday, the temperature begins to fall, reaching -10 on Wednesday and -13 on Thursday.
