South Rockies

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Poor - Due to the number of field observations

A dry arctic ridge will dominate the region for the forecast period. Skies will be mainly clear with ridge top temperatures hovering at about -25, and moderate northeasterly winds.

Wind slabs to size 2.5 were observed in high elevation terrain in the south of the region on Saturday. In one reported case, a wind slab in motion stepped down to the buried December crust.

On the surface, up to 30cm of low-density snow exists. In the alpine and at treeline, strong to locally extreme winds have been conducive to blowing this snow into large and reactive wind slabs in exposed lee areas. 50 - 70 cm below the surface (more in wind affected areas) you may find a crust which formed in December. The crust, which may have surface hoar on top of it, may extend into the alpine to at least 2100 m. Where the crust exists, it may be bridging triggers from penetrating to deeper persistent weaknesses that formed earlier in the season. However, on high alpine slopes above where the rain crust formed, or in areas where rain didn't occur, deeply buried facets may still be susceptible to triggers.