Natural avalanches are likely. Reactive storm slabs are present at all elevations.
Stick to simple terrain and limit your exposure to overhead hazard.
Use caution in steep terrain. Dry loose avalanches are likely. These avalanches will move quickly with a thin crust as a bed surface.
Ongoing snowfall and strong gusty winds will continue to build reactive slabs. These slabs may run farther than expected on a thin crust that formed on Dec 15th. Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain
Natural avalanche activity continued overnight and into the day on Wednesday. These avalanches were up to sz 2.5, initiating in the storm snow and running on a crust bed surface.
On Dec 15, heavy rainfall and warm temps triggered a widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 3.5 in the highway corridor. Artillery avalanche control was very effective, with some avalanches showing wide propagation and running to the bottom of runouts.
30-50 cm of low density storm snow buried a thin crust up to approximately 2300m, at lower elevations this crust is thicker (~3 cms) and has moist snow below. This crust is a solid bed surface for avalanches to run on.
The over 120 cm of storm snow in the past week is settling rapidly. This sits on the on top of the November rain crust. A spotty layer of surface hoar is just above the Nov Crust and exists at treeline in sheltered areas.
A westerly flow brings continued snowfall this week, with cooler temperatures.
Tonight Flurries 2-4 cm. Low -13°C. Winds SW 40km/hr. FZL (freezing level) 1600m.
Thurs Periods of snow, 15-20cm. Alp High -9°C. Wind SW 35-45. FZL 900m.
Fri Flurries, 5-10cm. Alp High -8°C. SW winds 30km/hr gusting to 70 km/hr. FZL 900m.
Sat Flurries, 5-10cm. High -10°C. Wind S 10km/hr gusting to 110km/hr. FZL valley bottom.
