24 Hour Snow: 0" 72 Hour Snow: 0" Season Total Snow: 63" Depth at Gold Basin: 28"

Southwest winds continue their 48 hour rein of terror and it's a sweltering 40°F up there this morning at 10,000'. Up on Pre Laurel Peak at 11,400' temperatures are just below freezing. Today will be a few days warmer than yesterday with continued breezy conditions and lingering high clouds. Things start to cool off slightly on Wednesday. An active pattern resumes later in the week but as has been the case for the majority of this season, most of the action will be to the north.

Sustained southwest winds and very warm temperatures make me think of a hairdryer being turned on to our meager snowpack. Snow is disappearing quickly from southerly aspects and many are bare. Above treeline, northerly aspects aren't much better after a barrage of north wind events in mid-January. Near treeline and below the snowpack is thin, variable, and largely faceted through.

Very warm temperatures and a lack of an overnight re-freeze are increasing the likelihood for loose, wet avalanches. I've got some uncertainty about this, but as the surface snow becomes damp and cohesive, it will develop a propensity to slide off looser, cohesionless snow underneath. This is generally a solar side of the compass concern but many of those slopes are bare or very thin so I think the threat is overall quite limited. However, due to the extremely warm temperatures, and underlying poor snowpack structure, we may also experience some wet activity on polar aspects below treeline. Best practice is to avoid steep slopes that are wet and sloppy.

South facing slopes are going fast (photo above), while northerly aspects above treeline are faring only slightly better (photo below).