Change is in the air! Tomorrow will be the start of a low intensity, but prolonged weather system moving through the area. Forecasted amounts may not be accurate, but expect 10cm by Saturday night. These ratings reflect the "worst" case scenario. Watch incoming weather carefully.
This refers to existing slabs and new slabs that will form with incoming snow. The problem will potentially increase during the day tomorrow. The possibility of rapid change is there if snow amounts are higher than expected.
Be cautious for this layer in high alpine terrain. Where there are no crusts, this layer is prominent. Remember this when exposing yourself to overhead terrain.
No new avalanches observed or reported.
Crusts, crusts and more crusts...
Steep SW and W aspects have a thin crust from all of the recent warmth. It is easily breakable and tricky to deal with, but luckily it is not that widespread and predictable to find. There are also pockets of fresh windslab that are forming near ridges and open areas at treeline and above. These are resting on old facets and could build to the point of failing. The Feb crust is down about 20cm and widespread below 2500m. This will be a layer to watch during this next storm. There are facets on top of it that will not tolerate much load. Beneath the Feb crust the snowpack is a mish mash of old crusts and facets. Definitely worth digging or probing to see what its like in your terrain of choice.
Saturday will be a steady -5 all day with heavy cloud cover and light snow. We're only expecting a modest 5cm for now, but that could vary in either direction. Winds will be worth watching as they are expected to be in the moderate to strong range. Hello windslabs!
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
