Weather is improving and some clear days are ahead this week. Don't let nice weather and soft snow lull you into complacency. Use careful snowpack evaluation and cautious route-finding while the snowpack continues to adjust to the new load.
New soft windslabs are building in lee features. Use caution where a human triggered windslab could step down to deeper buried persistent layers.
This layer likely requires larger triggers or thin spots to initiate.
A large cycle occurred last week during the storm with natural avalanches to size 3. We suspect many of these failed on the Feb 03 crust/facet combo. Avalanches were observed at all elevations and on all aspects.
10-20 cm of low-density storm snow has fallen with moderate wind forming thin new windslabs in the alpine and at treeline. The Feb 3rd crust is down 50-100cm and has a thin layer of weak facets above it. The lower snowpack is a well-settled crust/facet complex to the ground. Average snowpack depths are between 100 - 200 cm.
Tues
Broken skies with light flurries in the early morning. Alpine temps rise to -8°C with light to moderate SW.
Wed
Clear skies with no forecast precip. Temps continue to rise to -5°C in the alpine. Winds will be light to moderate SW
Thurs
Clear skies with no forecast precip. Temps steady at -5°C in the alpine. Winds will be light to moderate SW
For more info see: Mountain Weather Forecast.
