Hello
and good morning, this is Toby Weed of the
Current Conditions:
Several inches of new snow fell yesterday in the
Avalanche Conditions:
Wet activity grabbed the headlines yesterday afternoon across the
mountains of
Wind
slab avalanches are most likely on steep upper elevation slopes with
significant deposits of recently drifted snow. Isolated persistent slabs are still possible
on very steep slopes above 8000’ in elevation and facing the northern half of
the compass. Many avalanche slide paths
in the area are well filled-in and smooth, so even relatively small wind slab avalanches
might run far or fast.
Especially if the sun peaks out, significant wet avalanches are possible
on steep slopes again today as warmth turns the already saturated snow into
slush. You might find even smallish wet
avalanches entraining lots of mass and traveling far. Cooling and cloud cover this afternoon should
help to solidify things down low, but it’ll be a good idea today to avoid and
stay out from under steep slopes with melt-saturated snow at all elevations.
Bottom Line:
Overall
there’s a MODERATE avalanche
danger in the backcountry, and you could trigger avalanches on drifted or
saturated slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. Pockets with a CONSIDERABLE
danger exist at upper elevations on steep slopes with significant deposits of wind
drifted snow in the
Mountain Weather: This morning’s wave of moist weather
should be on the way out and we’ll probably see some clearing ahead of the next
bout, which will affect the region tonight and tomorrow. Southwest winds should be fairly strong
throughout the day today, and a cold front will sag southward across the area
later this afternoon bringing snowfall.
We could see several inches of accumulation before things wind down
tomorrow afternoon. Similar moist and windy weather is on the way for the
weekend.
Check out the images page for photos of some of
this season’s avalanches.
Go to
the Avalanche Encyclopedia if you have any questions about terms I use in the advisory.
I'm very interested to
know what you're seeing out there. Please e-mail observations to me
at [email protected] or leave me a message at 755-3638, especially if you see or
trigger an avalanche in the backcountry. We keep all observations confidential.
This advisory will
expire in 24 hours from the posting time.
The information in this advisory is from the
U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This
advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always
occur.