Backcountry riders and skiers have the slight potential to trigger existing wind slabs in very steep avalanche terrain above 9000 feet. Other than this high elevation hazard the new snow is falling on a mostly stable snowpack. As new snow accumulates this afternoon, very soft and shallow surface slabs or new snow sluffs could also be triggered in steep terrain at all elevations.
Winds that veered from the southwest to northeast formed slabs in the backcountry following the most recent storms. These slabs lie on a variety of aspects at the high elevations and could be released by the weight of a single person with one to two foot depths. These slabs can be found in very steep rocky areas and will generally have the appearance of a wind loaded feature.
A moist northwest flow will bring areas of light snowfall to the mountains overnight and into the morning hours. This snowfall will increase and become more widespread during the afternoon and evening hours. Several inches of accumulation are expected in the mountains overnight. Another three to six inches of new snow will accumulate in favored locations during the day with most of this snowfall occurring later in the day. In the mountains temperatures will be in the single digits overnight and rise into the teens and 20s during the day. Winds will be west-northwest at 15 to 20 with gusts to 30 miles per hour.At the upper elevations west-northwest winds will continue to form new soft slabs on leeward aspects. The slabs will slowly gain volume and depth overnight and during the morning hours and more rapidly build during the afternoon hours. These new slabs are expected to be increasingly sensitive to human triggers and build to depths of 12 to 18 inches in isolated areas by evening. The general avalanche hazard is expected to MODERATE at the upper elevations and LOW at the mid and lower elevations.
