Northwest Inland

Recent snow depths have varied across the region.

Constantly asses the depth of the new snow and retreat to lower angle terrain if you see signs of instability.

On Tuesday and Thursday our field team had concerning snowpack test results on the same surface hoar layer (buried in mid November) related to this Mountain Information Network report.

10 to 20 cm of recent snow has buried previously wind affected snow in the alpine and open areas at treeline.

In sheltered areas, expect to find soft snow.

A layer of weak, feathery (surface hoar) crystals is buried 20 to 40 cm and is most problematic where the surface snow is firm.

A crust formed in November and is buried at about 60 to 90 cm with small facets above it.

At treeline, the snow is about 100 cm deep, snowpack depth gradually thins as elevation decreases to 30 cm at valley bottom.

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 600 m.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 20 cm this could fall as rain at lower elevations. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 6 cm of snow. 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
• Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.