Snow and wind may create small wind slabs in the alpine today. A thick rain crust will sit just below today's new snow. Be prepared for tricky travel conditions if you do venture out today.
Southwest winds will transport new snow into wind slabs in the alpine. These wind slabs will likely be small but fail easily where the rain crust is present below.
Friday Overnight: Increasing cloud cover in the evening. 1-5 cm of new snow with light southwest winds, increasing to moderate in the early morning.
Saturday: A cloudy day with 10-15 cm of new snow throughout the day. Strong to extreme ridgetop winds from the southwest. Freezing levels rising to 1300m.
Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud with trace new snow. Light northwesterly winds and an alpine high of -11 C.
Monday: A mainly cloudy day with up to 5 cm on new snow. Light northwesterly winds and an alpine high of -11 C.
No new avalanches have been reported in the past 24 hours.
If you go out in the mountains, please share your observations and/or photos on the Mountain Information Network! ?
New snow from overnight and throughout the day will sit on a thick rain crust on all aspects below 2400m. In the high alpine (above 2400m) new snow overlies a variety of wind-affected surfaces.
Previously, 2 early season crusts could be found in the snowpack below 2300m. It is likely that rain has mainly eliminated these crusts, and amalgamated the snowpack into a thick rain crust with uniform melt forms below.
Snowpack depths range from 10-80cm at treeline elevations. Higher elevations may hold a deeper snowpack, but will also be more heavily impacted by recent winds. Rain has washed away the snowpack below 1900m.
