Storm slabs may be reactive to human triggering, especially on north facing slopes at treeline and in the alpine.
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Storm slabs may be reactive to human triggering, especially on lee slopes that have deeper deposits of wind loaded snow. Back off if you find signs of instability like warming from the sun, whumpfing, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, sluffing from the intermittent solar input occurred in steep terrain. Continued evidence of a widespread cycle to size 2 from last weekend's storm was reported.
Natural avalanche activity can spike on solar slopes when the sun is out. Storm slabs may be reactive to human triggers, especially on leeward wind-loaded slopes.
Up to 65 cm of storm snow sits above a crust on all aspects except on high, north-facing alpine terrain. Moderate to strong southwest winds have redistributed storm snow into deeper pockets on lee slopes at ridgeline, forming wind slabs.
A layer of facets and surface hoar which formed in February have been found 80 to 140 cm down, and a layer of facets and surface hoar from late January can be found down to 120 to 180 cm. No recent notable test results have been seen on these layers.
Thursday Night
Cloudy with some clear periods and flurries up to 5 cm. 25 to 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.
Friday
Cloudy with sunny periods. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.
Saturday
Cloudy with 5 to 20 cm of snow. 15 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with snow 5 to 10 cm. 15 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
