Carefully evaluate for new slab development before committing to steep terrain features.
New snow and southwest wind are forecast for Monday night into Tuesday. New wind slabs may form in lee terrain features at high elevations. Also use caution if you find 15 cm or more in sheltered terrain, as storm slabs could develop. The new snow may slide easily, particularly where it builds onto a smooth melt-freeze crust or faceted grains.
MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 10 cm, 20 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -6 C, freezing level 1600 m.
TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 2 to 10 cm, 20 to 40 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -8 C, freezing level 1500 m.
WEDNESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 10 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -4 C, freezing level 1800 m.
THURSDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, 10 km/h southwest wind, alpine temperature -4 C, freezing level 1800 m.
We did not receive any avalanche observations in the past few days.
Please consider posting your observations to the Mountain Information Network to supplement our data stream and help fellow recreationists.
Around 5 to 20 cm of snow is forecast to accumulate by Tuesday, with the most expected in the west of the region. The snow will fall with southwest wind, which may form new wind slabs in lee terrain features at higher elevations. The snow will fall onto 10 to 20 cm of consolidated faceted snow over a hard melt-freeze crust on shaded slopes at higher elevations. Below the rain-snow line, rain will wet a consolidated snowpack.
Around 100 to 200 cm deep, faceted grains persist around a hard melt-freeze crust from early December. There's uncertainty on if and when this layer will wake up, but it could during the next intense or prolonged warm-up.
