There was no huge change in conditions since Monday. The avalanche danger is MODERATE today. Continue to watch for fresh drifts of wind blown snow along the upper ridges. Also, monitor the snow surface and watch for areas to become damp today. Move off steep slopes when they do become wet and sloppy.
West wind was moderate in speed on Monday along the ridges and I did notice some snow getting transported. Cracking out a fresh wind drift today is the most likely avalanche problem you'll encounter. Watch for these fresh drifts on the more east facing steep slopes especially along the ridges.
It'll be a little warmer today with possibly more sun in the mountains so the chance for wet avalanches may be greater today than Monday. Watch for "pinwheels" or "rollerballs" on the snow surface indicating the snow is becoming damp and it's time to start moving off of these steep slopes.
Shallow areas are still holding very weak sugar snow near the ground that could fail under the new snow load. This is more of an issue in the mid and lower elevation terrain. What's a little tricky is that this season we have enough snow to travel into lower elevation terrain and we don't usually think so much about avalanches in these areas. Avoid steep slopes anywhere you find unsupportable snow like in the video below.
We'll see partly cloudy skies today with mild temperatures. Another storm rolls through tonight bringing a good shot of snow and then another impulse on Friday. It's possible we could see one to two feet of snow.
SKYLINE AVALANCHES & OBSERVATIONS
This forecast is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
