The avalanche cycle will start to taper off with cooling temperatures Saturday but the potential for avalanches will remain elevated as a result of the recent load and continued snowfall.
Strong to extreme winds plus warmth and previous snowfall at higher elevations will continue to form widespread wind slabs at treeline and above.
A layer of facets and/or surface hoar is buried 50–150 cm deep. Warm temperatures and additional load from new precipitation and wind will make this problem active Saturday.
Extreme winds, warmth, rain, and a saturated snowpack can initiate Loose Wet avalanches at TL and below, and Loose Dry avalanches in the ALP.
A widespread avalanche cycle has occurred and is underway and will begin to taper off Saturday with large natural avalanches running into the runout zones.
50-130 mm of precipitation has fallen since the storm began, which translates into roughly 100-160 cm of snow at higher elevations, combined with steady south winds of 60-100 km/hr. The rain line has been around 2200 m. This storm has overloaded the snowpack, and avalanches have released naturally on persistent weak layers.
