New snow is falling on a dangerous combination of weak surface hoar on a crust.
Expect the hazard to continue to increase through out the day, and be ready to scale back your terrain use accordingly.
New snow is starting to bury our widespread drought layer of surface hoar, a sturdy crust and facets. Expect this new snow to bond poorly and run fast as loose dry avalanches.
Expect storm slabs to form through out the day on Friday, especially in areas prone to wind loading. Even thin slabs may propagate surprisingly far as they fail on the "perfect combination" of surface hoar on a crust.
Surface sluffing, large enough to bump a person from their feet, has been observed and reported in steep, N-facing terrain this week.
New snow (10-20cms by Friday evening) is covering a troubling combination of surface hoar or facets on a crust. The surface hoar is on most aspects and elevations, and is largest (up to 40mm) in sheltered areas below treeline. The crust is more supportive on solar aspects, and has been weakening/faceting on polar aspects.
The mid and lower snowpacks are generally well settled and strong.
The drought is ending, with snowfall in the forecast for Friday.
Tonight: Cloudy with flurries. Alpine low -4 °C. Freezing level (FZL) 1400m. Light SW ridgetop winds.
Friday: Periods of snow (~15cms). Alpine High -3°C. FZL 1700m. Moderate-strong SW winds.
Sat: Isolated flurries. Low -5 °C, High -2 °C. FZL 1600m. Moderate SW wind.
Sun: Isolated flurries. Low -3 °C, High -1 °C. FZL 1900m. Gusty strong SW wind.
