Fresh snow and strong winds may form reactive wind slabs.
Assess steep slopes for dense or stiff snow before committing.
Fresh snow and shifting strong ridgetop winds may form reactive wind slabs. These will likely be isolated to lee features near ridgelines at higher elevations.
Dry loose sluffing may exist in steep terrain features.
Early this week (Tuesday), wind slabs up to size 2 were reactive to rider triggering.
Rider-triggered wind slabs remain possible at upper elevations for Friday.
If you are out and about in the mountains, please consider posting your observations to the MIN.
At treeline and above, 8–12 cm of new snow sits on top of faceted snow or surface hoar. The upper snowpack is mixed: wind-affected in open areas and softer in sheltered spots, all sitting on the mid-November crust buried 30–50 cm deep. Lower in the snowpack, there are several crusts, and in some areas a weak, sugary facets can be found near the ground.
Total snowpack depths are roughly 80 to 120 cm, tapering quickly at lower elevations.
In many areas, especially below treeline, there is not enough snow to smooth out surface roughness or reach the threshold needed for avalanches.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 25 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Friday
Cloudy. 3 to 8 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy. 2 to 7 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy. Up to 5 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
