Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Recent avalanche activity on wind-loaded northerly aspects and some minor, wet-loose activity on the solars.</p>
The snow from late last week has settled into a non-reactive, cohesive slab and is well-bonded to crusts underneath. I was able to find a few slopes that were recently wind-drifted, but were also non-reactive.
Going into this week:
1. Wet/loose activity will depend upon the temperatures, sunshine, and wind speeds. I was still finding cold/dry snow underneath the crusts and wet snow on solar aspects, and if we have a spike in the warm up, this dry snow may become reactive. Winds on Monday could keep the snow surface cool.
2. PWL is moving toward dormancy (it may already be there). The DJL is now buried about a meter deep (deeper in upper LCC) with strong and supportable crusts and a strong 1F/P hard slab above the DJL. Despite the presence of faceted snow, triggering an avalanche on this weak layer is unlikely. The likely spots where you could do so are
(a) thin, rocky terrain in the upper elevations, and
(b) repeater slopes that avalanched on the DJL. Identifying these slopes will either involve knowing the slope history of the terrain or finding old crowns that are now filled in.
Snowpack
Clear skies and cool-ish temperatures today should preserve the storm snow on mid and upper elevation northerly aspects.