West Slopes Central

Challenging travel conditions with variable crusty surfaces are your biggest concern on Wednesday. Although avalanche danger is low, there's still a very slim chance that you could trigger an avalanche, mainly at upper elevations where we have a more winterlike snowpack and less data. 

An irregular crust will probably be your biggest hazard on Wednesday. In some locations the crust could be supportable, whereas in others you'll be punching through to moist underlying snow.  This crust is keeping the snow surface locked up and our avalanche danger on low. Near the top of the upper elevation band, dry snow, although wind-affected, may exist. Given multiple days to stabilize, any weaknesses have probably healed. However, if you make it to upper elevations, be prepared to evaluate conditions for yourself, and in particular, identify any failure planes or weaknesses in wind-stiffened slabs of snow that would indicate avoiding steep, wind-loaded terrain. 

Saturday night we received over a foot of snow. The precipitation transitioned to rain early Sunday morning, and reached elevations 6000ft or higher. Skies cleared Sunday night and the previously wet snow formed a crust on the surface, which is probably at least 2" thick in most places. At mid and lower elevations you can expect to find moist snow beneath the crust. 

On Wednesday freezing levels will rise to 7000ft on Wednesday.  That being said, this grunty surface crust probably won't soften too much. Increasing sky cover and some wind will likely keep surfaces cool as a small front approaches. We might see an inch of snow on Thursday.

If you make it into the snow in the West Central zone, help us learn more about conditions specific to this zone by submitting an observation.