At the upper and mid elevations strong west winds will continue to drift snow into avalanche starting zones along the lee aspects of exposed ridge crests. Humans who venture into avalanche prone terrain and cliff areas could trigger soft surface slabs one to two feet in depth. Some potential may remain for these surface slabs to step down to persistent weak layers near the base of the snowpack.
At the upper elevations pockets of surface slab formed by west winds could by be triggered by humans in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones. At the mid elevations isolated pockets of surface slab up to 18 inches in depth could be human triggered in active avalanche starting zones and cliff areas.
Some potential may remain for humans to trigger deep slab avalanches up to four feet in depth that would fail on a persistent weak layer of faceted snow and crust that exist near the base of the snowpack.
Widespread light snowfall will develop overnight and continue into Friday morning before increasing in intensity in the late afternoon. Snowfall amounts of three to six inches are possible overnight and during the day. Temperatures will be in the teens in the mountains and in the 20s in the valley. Winds will be southwesterly at 20 to 30 miles per hour with higher gusts and increase in the afternoon as the next wave of moisture approaches. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the upper elevations where pockets of surface slab up to two feet in depth could be human triggered in steep avalanche starting zones. Some potential may remain for these slabs to step down several feet to the October crust. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW at the mid and lower elevations.
