Weather
Clear skies, cool temperatures moderated by sunshine, and light winds along a near treeline ridge. cloud cover: clear; wind loading: light; snow avail for transport: large amounts
Snowpack
I dug two test profiles today near treeline. A profile on a northeast slope produced moderate propagating test results beneath a 90cm slab above the February facet layer. A second profile on a drifted southeast feature produced moderate propagating test results below a crust/facet structure. The snow surface became slightly moist on southerly features below about 11,000 feet but stayed dry at near treeline elevations. As temperatures climb tomorrow, I suspect loose avalanches will become a problem and could pry out slabs as they descend. While snowmobiling on small, steep sunny terrain features, I didn't notice any signs of instability. While skinning, we experienced a few small localized collapses and one large rumbling collapse. While skiing above a steep, east start zone, I watched cracks shoot across the slope, but it didn't avalanche. I stomped and jumped in numerous places without producing a collapse. Signs of instability in snow-favored portions of the forecast area appear to be sporadic and a poor measure of the hazard; fresh natural avalanches today suggest the feedback is misleading.
Avalanche
I have documented numerous avalanches from the past 4 days. Some failed early in the storm, some in the middle, and some at the end. A few avalanches appeared to fail today while winds drifted snow in the early morning or from solar input. Most avalanches were large with a few very large avalanches.