Wind slabs will likely form with new snow and strong winds on Saturday night. A conservative mindset and being on high-alert is important to manage early-season uncertainties.
Saturday night's storm will bring snow and strong west wind. Wind slabs will likely form in wind-loaded terrain, particularly near ridges. Conservative and thoughtful travel is recommended to avoid these terrain features.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 5 to 10 cm, moderate to strong west wind, alpine temperature -5 C, freezing level 1400 m.
SUNDAY: Morning snowfall and afternoon clearing, accumulation 5 cm, moderate to strong west wind, alpine temperature -5 C, freezing level 1400 m.
MONDAY: Partly cloudy skies, light northwest wind, alpine temperature -9 C, freezing level below valley bottom.
TUESDAY: Partly cloudy skies, light east wind, alpine temperature -12 C, freezing level below valley bottom.
Observations are very limited right now, with recreationists just starting to get into the mountains and operations starting up. We haven't received any reports of recent avalanche activity. The most likely place to trigger an avalanche would be in wind-loaded terrain features in the alpine.
If you see anything while out in the field, please consider sharing that information with us and fellow recreationists via the Mountain Information Network (MIN).
There is a wide variation in snowpack depth with location and terrain feature. In general, about 50 to 100 cm of snow may be found in terrain depressions in the alpine whereas very little snow may be found on exposed terrain features. There is little or no snow below treeline.
New snow on Saturday night will fall with strong west wind, likely forming new wind slabs in exposed terrain. There may be a melt-freeze crust near the middle of the snowpack, which could act as a sliding layer for the snow above it. The remainder of the snowpack has been reported to be relatively strong in deeper snowpack areas and weak and faceted in shallow snowpack areas.
