Up to four feet of snow with four inches of moisture fell between Wednesday night and Sunday morning. Strong southwest winds accompanied that snowfall. At the mid and upper elevations this precipitation has increased the potential for skiers and riders to trigger large destructive deep slab avalanches and recently formed wind slab avalanches. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations except on isolated terrain features.
Recent new snow has increased the load on deeply buried persistent weak layers of faceted snow. Large to very large deep slab avalanches could be triggered by skier and riders with depths to five feet. The consequences of triggering one of these slabs are likely to be severe.
Soft slab avalanches formed by southwest winds could be triggered by skiers and riders who venture into steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. These slabs could be up to two feet in depth.
A northerly flow will continue to bring arctic air into the area. Skies will continue to be partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of snow flurries or periods of very light snowfall over the mountains. Temperatures are forecast to be below zero overnight and rise into the single digits during the day. Winds will be light from the northwest to west.Deep instabilities continue to be a concern on steep avalanche prone slopes above an elevation of 7,500 feet. Some potential persist for snowmobiles and skiers to trigger dangerous hard slab avalanches up to five feet in depth. Hazards associated with wind slabs that formed during the last storm cycle may linger in very steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the mid and upper elevations (7,500 to 10,500 feet) and LOW below those elevations.
