South Rockies

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Fair - Wind effect is extremely variable

Tonight and Wednesday: A ridge of high pressure is bringing cold and clear conditions. Strong winds from the E-NE are forecasted, mainly clear skies and temperatures around -25 C.Thursday: The ridge remains dominant bringing similar conditions except moderate winds becoming light from the NE and slightly warmer temperatures (-15 C).Friday: Similar conditions with lighter winds.

Natural small loose snow avalanches were observed today out of extreme terrain. Yesterday, isolated pillows of wind slab formed in the immediate lee of ridge crests and were reactive to the weight of a skier. Small loose dry avalanches were also triggered by ski cuts in steep terrain features.

5-10 cm of recent snow overlie a variety of surfaces from well developed surface hoar, to old unreactive wind slabs or a melt-freeze crust on previously sun-exposed slopes. Today, there has been some windslab development from N and NE winds, but there is still lots of loose snow available for transport.  With the forecasted strong winds tomorrow, expect more and probably touchier windslabs, especially in the alpine and below ridgetop at treeline on S and SW aspects. Weak faceted snow exists in the lower snowpack, particularly in areas where the snowpack is thinner. Although these weaknesses still appear in some snowpack tests, avalanches at this interface have become unlikely to trigger.