Stevens Pass

Another nice day is in store for Thursday. Expect a range of surface conditions that may present it's own challenges for travel. Be ready to change aspects if you find mushy, wet snow on steep south-facing slopes. 

The last storm occurred about a week ago (1/19-20), and the snowpack has settled. Much of the snowpack is well transitioned to melt forms, and each day with similar weather has helped to stabilize it. We're locked into a pattern of melt-freeze, where warm temperatures and sun melt down the overnight refreeze during the day. Check the thickness and supportability of the surface crust as the day progresses. If you're sinking past your ankle boot top with skis on, you could trigger a wet loose avalanche on steep slopes. Be cautious on very steep slopes with exposed rocks, where the snowpack may be shallow, or near terrain traps.

Observers have been finding good corn skiing on south facing slopes in the middle of the day. On Tuesday, I could initiate some very small loose wet slides on steeper SE facing slopes, but they weren't entraining much snow and only involved the upper few inches of snow on the surface.  Cold, dry snow can be found over a stout crust on higher elevation, shaded slopes. This dry snow is becoming weaker and faceted with time, which makes for nice ski conditions for now. Take note of what you find on and near the surface, as today's soft snow may become a lasting weak layer after the next storm. Snow in the trees is icy and can be challenging to travel through safely on skis. Last weekend, observers reported a handful of wet avalanches on steep sunny slopes. A couple of notable slides on the southeast face of Lichtenberg Mtn were big enough to bury a person and may have gouged into older layers of snow. Glide cracks have slowly opened up, with the last notable glide avalanches occurring over the weekend (in Snoqualmie zone).