Some light snow and cloudy conditions should minimize any solar effects over the weekend. The snowpack is still not great for this time of year, with basal facets and depth hoar the main cause for concern. Moderate danger ratings are often misunderstood. The potential for deep persistent, large avalanches is possible which should factor into your terrain choices.
The lower snowpack consists of several weak layers that remain a concern. A combination of basal facets and crusts is still possible to trigger. Avalanches have been releasing on the deeper layers over the past week mainly related to heating (but not all). Snowpack tests are still producing moderate to hard sudden collapse results.
Saturday: Increasing SW winds 30-40 kmh and trace to 5cm over the day. Freezing levels will rise to 1400-1600m in the afternoon.
Sunday: A few more cm of snow during the day with winds shifting to light from the E/NE in the afternoon. Another 5-10cm is possible Sunday evening along the East slopes.
No new avalanches were reported or observed today with minimal solar heating.
Surface crusts exist to ridgetop on solar aspects. On polar aspects, 10-25cm of storm snow sits over a facetted interface from March 25th and buried temperature crusts below 1500 m. The lower snowpack remains weaker, with depth hoar producing sudden test failures in various locations.
