Stormy weather will continue to create very dangerous avalanche conditions.
Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow or wind.
Moderate snowfalls combined with steady strong to extreme wind will keep developing fresh reactive storm and wind slabs. Expect these slabs to be most reactive on lee slopes.
Poor visibility has restricted field observations. On Tuesday, a very large natural wind slab avalanche (size 3) was reported from a north-facing alpine slope near Blue River.
Looking forward, natural avalanche activity is expected as new snow accumulates and the wind picks up over the coming days.
If you are heading into the backcountry, please share any observations with the Mountain Information Network.
On Wednesday, 20 to 25 cm of snow had fallen, bringing the totals to 25 to 45 cm since Monday. This overlies wind-affected surfaces in open terrain at upper elevations and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes.
Strong to extreme westerly wind redistributed this new snow, farther downslope than normal, forming reactive slabs at treeline.
In sheltered terrain, 60 to 80 cm of snow sits on a hard melt-freeze crust from early February. Below this, a layer of surface hoar, facets, and/or crust from late January is buried around 110 cm. Triggering either of these layers is considered unlikely at this time.
The remainder of the snowpack is consolidated with no layers of concern.
Wednesday Night
Cloudy. 10 to 20 cm of snow. 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.
Thursday
Cloudy. 5 to 15 cm of snow. 70 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.
Friday
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
Saturday
Mostly sunny. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
