East Slopes North

Cooler temperatures and mostly cloudy skies should keep the snowpack from softening much on Thursday. At most, a chunk of cornice might finally give way after a week of warm, sunny weather. Instead, you may encounter variable surfaces that can be firm and icy in spots.

Sadly, the prolonged dry stretch isn’t coming to an end, but we will see a noticeable change in the weather on Thursday. Cooler temperatures and generally thin clouds should keep the snowpack frozen solid and avalanche conditions to a minimum. If the clouds are thin enough, you could see the surface soften on steeper southerly slopes. Even if the avalanche conditions are generally safe, a block of snow may shed from rocky faces or corniced ridgelines somewhere in the zone. So, don’t let the map's green color make you forget safe travel habits. 

The snow surface around the zone appears quite variable. Southerly slopes hold a solid melt-freeze crust after a week of warm and sunny weather. On more shaded aspects, you could find thin crusts, icy slopes, wind-buffed snow, or even recycled powder. There have been reports of soft snow on north faces above 7500ft. To sum it up, variable seems to be the name of the game. In areas where the snow is firm and icy, a simple slip could quickly turn into a long, uncontrolled fall. 

Strong temperature inversions have kept the mountain valleys downright frigid and foggy. Fortunately, this helped preserve the thin snowpacks at lower elevations.