Practice good travel habits, and continue to avoid large, steep, open slopes with shallow snowpacks.
The snowpack is relatively stable in this period of slow change.
Large, steep, open slopes with shallow snowpacks are the most likely place to trigger a large avalanche on this layer. To avoid this problem, choose terrain sheltered from the wind that tends to catch and hold more snow.
No avalanches have been reported since early February.
If you are traveling in the mountains consider posting to the MIN.
The recent snowfall is burying wind-affected surfaces in exposed terrain on all aspects and elevations. Moderate to strong south and southwest winds will likely be forming deeper deposits in leeward terrain. Ongoing cold temperatures have softened the upper snowpack in sheltered terrain.
A weak layer of facets and a crust from early December is buried 60 to 100 cm deep. This layer exists on all aspects up to 1750 m.
At the highway elevation, the snow depth is 120 cm, and in the alpine exceeds 200 cm.
Friday Night
Cloudy with up to 1 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature - 3 °C.
Saturday
Mainly cloudy with up to 1 cm of snow. 15 to 25 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Sunday
Mainly cloudy with 2-10 cm of snow. 30 to 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
Monday
Manly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
