The weather is going to bring a little bit of everything this weekend. Sunshine, warm temperatures, clouds, wind, and snow. Pay attention to changing avalanche conditions as mother nature does her thing.
Pockets of wind slab likely still exist in extreme terrain and even small avalanches can have serious consequences in places like this. Assess your run entries and highmarks with care.
Friday night: Mostly clear with clouds moving in later in the evening. No precipitation. Winds light from the south. The overnight temperature will be -7°C.
Saturday: Lingering moisture in the atmosphere will result in a mostly cloudy day. Wet flurries are possible amounting to 2cm of snow. Winds will be moderate from the south. Temperatures will start at around -5°C in the morning and rise to -1°C by the afternoon.
Sunday: Warm and moist as the storm rolls in. Mostly cloudy until the early afternoon with the potential for clearing later in the afternoon. 5-15cm of new snow overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning with freezing rain possible at highway elevation. Moderate to strong winds from the south. Temperature around -2°C overnight rising to 0°C
Monday: Clear and sunny. No precipitation. Light north winds. A low of -12°C and a high of -8°C.
The most recently reported avalanches in White Pass are now 48-72hrs old.
We have 15-30cm of low density snow sitting on old firm surfaces. On some north aspects in the alpine, this snow exists as firmer wind slab. The bond between this snow and these firm surfaces continues to improve daily. On steep, south aspects at treeline and below, there is potential for the existence of a thin sun crust.
The lower snowpack is well bridged and it is unlikely that avalanches will be triggered on weak, sugary crystals near the ground at this time.
