If you're getting out in the cold, remember that freezing temperatures and shorter days make for higher consequences.
Check out this blog from our Yukon field team about managing the cold while traveling in avalanche terrain.
Old wind slabs on north aspect terrain continue to remain a concern. New wind slabs will begin to form as new snowfall and sustained south west wind is expected.
No new avalanches have been observed or reported in since Monday Dec 19th.
Continue to support your backcountry community and please consider submitting a MIN report, Your information sharing is vital.
New snow on Friday of up to 10 cm has been distributed by mostly north wind, expect this wind to shift to the south west, early Saturday morning and begin to deposit new snow on a variety of old hard surfaces. Over the past week, the snowpack has been highly wind-affected from the past strong to extreme north wind. Upper elevation terrain has been scoured and in some places the ground is exposed. The height of the snowpack is variable, areas in the lee of the prevailing wind depths of up to 150cm can be found. Most of the upper snowpack presents as a crust. In areas that are protected from the wind, it is expected that between 10-15 cm of low density faceted snow overlies this crust. At the lower elevation treeline terrain, snow depths decrease and are estimated at 60 to 90 cm.
A high pressure to the north east of the forecast areas continues to provide a barrier to the invading pacific storm fronts. As the incoming fronts begin to overwhelm this ridge, they will become the dominate weather feature. Forecasts expect that southwesterly wind will increase at ridgetop and light to moderate sustained snowfalls will occur.
Friday night
Snow 1-5 cm. Southeasterly winds 40 km/h at ridge tops. Temperatures near -22˚C.
Saturday
Snow 2-5 cm. Southwesterly winds 60 to 100 km/h at ridge tops. Temperatures near -20˚C.
Sunday
Snow 1-5 cm. Southwesterly winds at 60 km/h at ridge tops. Temperatures near -15˚C.
Monday
Snow 5-10 cm. Southwesterly winds at 60 to 80 km/h at ridge tops. Temperatures near -12˚C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
