Great skiing continues!
Storm snow amounts over the past 48 hrs range from 10 to 20 cm depending on the region and convective activity.
With broken skies forecast for Sunday, the sun could increase the hazard later in the day. Start and finish early!
The more sun, snow, and wind; the more the hazard will increase.
Wind/storm slabs may be present on ridgetop and cross-loaded features, with failures on the interface below the recent storm snow. Monitor this interface carefully in steep terrain.
Dry loose avalanches out of steep terrain could also present issues in confined terrain features.
The Feb 3 crust/facet interface is down 80-110 cm. While we have not seen this fail in deep snowpack areas, there have been several recent skier-triggered slabs in thinner areas east of the divide. All of the recent avalanches that initiated on this layer stepped down to the basal facets / ground.
As we head into April the sun will come with more "punch". Broken skies on Sunday may result in wet loose avalanches in the afternoon especially on steep solar aspects and in rocky terrain.
Recent storm snow could also form a cohesive storm slab and become reactive on buried crusts.
A few small wind and storm slabs up to size 1.5 were reported during avalanche control at the local ski areas Saturday.
Natural avalanche activity was limited on Saturday, with some dry loose sluffing in steep terrain. There was evidence of a more widespread dry loose and storm slab cycle up to size 2 in the alpine during the storm.
Up to 20 cm of storm snow (depending on convective activity) over old sun crusts on solar aspects, with new solar crusts forming. On polar aspects this storm snow may sit over a layer of stellars/spotty surface hoar crystals which is worth montioring.
In shallow snowpack areas on northerly alpine aspects where the midpack is thinner/weaker, the Feb 3 facet/crust layer and the basal facets/depth hoar remain possible to trigger.
Deeper snowpack areas have few concerns.
Saturday night and Sunday:
Freezing levels to valley bottom overnight. Scattered flurries taper off through the day Sunday, as an upper trough leaves the region. Freezing levels will rise above valley bottom to 1900 m. Light to moderate westerly ridgetop winds.
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