Continued snowfall, accompanied by moderate winds, is forming cohesive slabs over old faceted surfaces.
Roughly 30 cm of snow has accumulated over a layer of old, firm, faceted surfaces formed during the recent extreme cold and may still need time to fully bond. Slabs on the surface will be especially reactive in areas with recent wind loading.
A mix of natural, skier-triggered, and explosive-triggered storm or wind slab avalanches have been reported over the last 4 days. Avalanches were sized 1 to 2, generally all in the upper 40 cm of snow and on various aspects and elevations.
This MIN report describes a size 1 avalanche at treeline that is fairly consistent with other reports.
The upper snowpack continues to settle and bond with mild temperatures.
Down roughly 30 to 50 cm is a layer of faceted snow formed during the extreme cold early this month. Below this, a layer of surface hoar continues to be found in sheltered, north-facing terrain, while on south-facing slopes it may be a sun crust.
A thick crust deep in the snowpack largely protects any weak layers further down in the snowpack from being a concern.
Monday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy with trace snow amounts, west alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm, southwest alpine winds 30 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -4 °C.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with trace snow amounts, west alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
