Stormy weather returns, expect high precipitation amounts, warming temperatures and a rapidly rising avalanche danger.
Strong winds and warming temperatures will promote the formation of a deep wind slab. Expect as temperatures rise and rain begins to saturate the upper snowpack, this avalanche problem is likely to be triggered naturally.
As temperatures warm and snowfall becomes rainfall, expect this new avalanche problem to become very touchy to triggering. Steep terrain and gulley features will enhance the potential to gain mass and create larger than expected avalanches.
No new avalanches have been observed or reported.
Keep sharing your experiences and observations by submitting a MIN report!
Saturday and Sundays heavy snow and rain fall combined with strong south west wind will deposit new snow onto a variety of old hard surfaces. These surfaces will range from an unsupportive sun crust on southern aspects, to heavily wind affected hard surfaces on open exposed terrain and in isolated terrain protected from the wind newly formed surface hoar. The snowpack continues to present as thin and averages 130 cm deep at tree line.
Down approximately 70 cm, a buried layer can be found that contains decomposing surface hoar crystals. There is also a layer of weak, sugary crystals near the base of the snowpack. During testing, these layers are producing hard results and no reports of avalanches occurring on these layers have been observed or reported.
Beginning Friday night a series of pacific storm fronts are forecast to begin to enter the region. Initially these fronts will remain cool as they begin to mix with the previous intense cool air. As the warm pacific front becomes the dominate weather feature. An expected rise in freezing levels combines with heavy precipitation in the form of snow followed by a brief period of rain. This weather scenario is expected to occur both Saturday and Sunday. A very large difference in precipitation amounts is expected with western leading edge zones such as the 5040 peak seeing upwards of 200mm of precipitation.
Friday night
Snow 10-20 cm. Southwesterly wind at 100 km/h at ridge tops. High of 3 ˚C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.
Saturday
Snow and Rain for a potential of up to 70 mm. Southeasterly wind at 100 km/h at ridge tops. High of 4 ˚C. Freezing level rising to 2200 m.
Sunday
Snow and Rain for a potential of 20 to 50 mm. Southeasterly wind peaking at 110 km/h at ridge tops. High of 4 ˚C. Freezing level rising to 2600 m.
Monday
Snow and Rain for a potential of up to 10 to 30 mm. Southeasterly wind 40 km/h at ridge tops. High of 3 ˚C. Freezing level descending to 1200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
