West Slopes North

We might get a couple inches of snow to soften surfaces Wednesday night, but in the meantime, difficult travel on variable crusts is probably your biggest hazard. Although unlikely, remain alert for triggering a rogue avalanche, mainly at upper elevations where dry snow persists.

Observers found a firm and variable surface crust for the second day on Tuesday. Expect conditions to remain similar for Wednesday. This crust is locking the snowpack up and keeping avalanche danger low. Low danger frequently correlates with difficult travel conditions, as is the case right now. 

Near the top of the upper elevation band is the only area that may not be crusty, although we expect surfaces to be firm anyway due to mid-storm and ongoing wind. These locations have a very small, unlikely chance that you could trigger a wind slab avalanche. Always keep this in mind as you travel over the snow, especially at the upper elevations right now. If you do find yourself at higher elevations, identify thicker, drifted pillows of snow and dig down to the bottom of the drift to determine whether the slab layer could fail or if it's well bonded to the underlying layers. If there's still weakness at the interface, then steer clear of large, steep slopes. 

Over a foot of snow fell Saturday afternoon and night while the wind was gusting at least into the 40s at the Pan Dome weather station. The wind affected nearly all mid and upper-elevation slopes, texturing surfaces and forming wind slabs.  Afterwards, it rained. According to the Heather Meadows weather station, we saw less than half an inch of rain but it had extensive impacts on the snowpack. Clear skies since Sunday night mean we've gotten a good surface freeze that's at least a couple inches thick and likely goes well above 6000ft.  Beneath the crust, especially at mid and lower elevations, you'll find moist snow. 

Freezing levels are forecasted to reach 8500ft Wednesday afternoon- yikes! That being said, this grunty surface crust probably won't soften too much. Increasing sky cover and strong winds will likely keep surfaces cool as this small front brings a couple inches of snow overnight. A little padding on the crust will be nice, but it's probably not going to be enough to increase the avalanche danger. 

If you're traveling in the backcountry in the West North zone, especially to upper elevations, help us learn more about conditions by submitting an observation.