Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Saturday - February 24, 2018 - 6:57am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on steep slopes that face northwest and especially north and east above about 9500'. Human triggered avalanches are likely in this terrain. Outside of this terrain the avalanche danger is much lower and you can travel safely if you avoid being on or below the slopes mentioned.
current conditions

The periods of snow on Thursday and Friday have added about 6 inches of new snow. West northwest wind picked up a little bit on Friday but nothing out of hand. It was probably enough to transport snow and form some drifts though. Temperatures have remained cold over the last week. Overnight lows were again in the low single digits to around zero.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

The biggest concern remains triggering an avalanche that breaks into weak snow deeper in the snowpack which formed earlier in the season. One snowmobile triggered avalanche occurred on Wednesday. Collapsing of the snowpack (loud "whoomping" noises underneath you) is still occurring. Snow pit tests continue to show poor results. You can still punch your boots right through the snowpack to the ground in many areas. It's easy to trench your machine right down into loose sugary faceted snow. All of this information points to an unstable snowpack situation still.
weather

We'll see cold temperatures and increasing clouds later today. Ridge top highs will only be around 11˚F. Wind will be from the west in the light to moderate speed range. It will increase late in the day as another small storm moves through Saturday evening which looks like it will give us another 2 to 4 inches of snow. The wind looks fairly strong during the storm Saturday night. Things will clear out on Sunday with mountain temperatures in the upper teens.
general announcements

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