Recent new snow has been redistributed by light to moderate south then strong north winds. The new snow is now obscuring previous widespread wind effect. Wind slabs continue to be the main concern.
New snow from Monday and Tuesday night combined with south switching to north winds has promoted new wind slab formation in the lee of terrain features. This new snow is obscuring wind slabs that formed on all aspects and elevations during a wind event late last week.
WEDNESDAY Night: Mainly clear. Light to moderate north wind. Alpine temperature around -21.
THURSDAY: Sunny. Light to moderate north wind. Alpine temperature around -19.
FRIDAY: Sunny. Moderate to strong north wind. Alpine temperature around -13.
SATURDAY: Mainly sunny. Light northwest wind. Alpine temperature around -5.
There are no new reports of avalanche activity over the past few days.
Tuesday night saw about 10-15 cm of new snow combined with another 5-15 cm of new snow that fell on Monday and has been redistributed by light southerly winds switching to strong from the north. Expect to see widespread wind effect from the latest north winds. This snow now obscures widespread wind effect from last week's extreme wind event. There may be lingering and buried wind slabs in areas we traditionally think of as sheltered.
At White Pass the snowpack is roughly 200 cm thick with a strong mid and lower snowpack. Thin snowpack areas further inland may have a shallower snowpack composed of sugary faceted grains. Lower elevations may have a melt freeze crust near the surface.
