Northwest Inland

Snowfall and extreme winds are expected to increase the Avalanche Danger. Conservative terrain selection is highly recommended. Forecasters are working with very little field data at this time. Please share your observations on the MIN.

Throughout Sunday we can expect a clearing trend with freezing levels eventually falling to valley bottom. Extreme westerly winds are also expected to shift to moderate and northwesterly as a dry arctic ridge develops for Monday and Tuesday.

A natural avalanche cycle is expected to occur in response to new snow and extreme winds on Saturday. On Sunday, natural avalanche activity is expected to taper-off with forecast cooling and clearing. That said, newly formed wind slabs may remain ripe for human triggering for the next few days.

Reactive wind slabs are expected to form as a result of snow and extreme westerly winds on Saturday. The reactivity of these new wind slabs will likely change with elevation and underlying snowpack structure. Due to limited observations, I have very little confidence in what that underlying structure may be, although faceting and surface hoar development may have occurred on shaded terrain. If you've been in the mountains, please share your observations on our Mountain Information Network.