Yukon

If you venture out in the cold, even a small issue can quickly escalate into a major problem.

Avalanches are of greatest concern in areas with a transition from shallow to deep snow.

No new avalanches were reported in the past week.

There have been no recent reports of persistent slab avalanches, but uncertainty remains. Snowpack test results and whumpfing suggest it may still be triggerable in areas that are shallow and rocky.

Between 15 to 25 cm of old storm snow has been transported via moderate northerly winds. Watch for reverse loaded slopes hiding pockets of hard wind slab.

A weak layer of facets and a crust from early December is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer exists on all aspects up to around 1700 m.

At the highway elevation the snow is 120 cm deep and in the alpine exceeds 200 cm.

Monday Night

Mostly clear. 50 to 70 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly clear. 40 to 50 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly clear. 15 to 25 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Thursday

Mostly clear. 25 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
• Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
• Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.