Be alert to conditions that change with elevation. Lots of rain at lower elevations might mean lots of snow up high.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Seasonal temperatures, some cloud, some sun, no precipitation is the order of the week. MONDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods. Winds light northerly and freezing level around 1200m. TUESDAY: Cloudy. Winds light northwesterly and freezing level around 750m. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods. Light northwesterly wind and freezing level around 800m.
Avalanche Summary
No new observed.
Snowpack Summary
At treeline elevations (1200m) and above, 20-35cm of heavy snow from Thursday-Friday sits on the rain-soaked snow from last week's warmup. This latest snow is settling and bonding well to the previous rain-soaked snow surface. At alpine elevations fresh wind slabs could be touchy, especially if we do get as much snow as some forecasts suggest (up to 25cm by Sunday afternoon). The cooling trend early next week is expected to stabilize the snowpack - locking up the moist snow at treeline and below. The mid and lower snowpack are well settled and stable.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.