West Slopes South

A couple of inches of new snow shouldn’t do much to increase the avalanche danger. However, you may encounter small wind loaded pockets at higher elevations or piles of rollerballs and tiny point release avalanches on sunny slopes. Don’t let moving snow surprise you in high consequence terrain.

At this point, we’ll appreciate every inch of snow we can get. Sadly, this “storm” doesn’t look very juicy. Most locations could see a few inches of fresh snow by Monday morning, but that’s about it. The bigger story Sunday night could be the strong winds. You could see windward slopes and ridgelines scoured down to the old icy surface and deeper piles of snow on the lee side of exposed features. There could be a few isolated small wind slabs out there on Monday. Most of these wind loaded pockets shouldn’t be large enough to matter, but could trigger very easily or even run far on the underlying crust. Take a moment to look for pillow-like slabs, particularly in rocky or complex terrain. 

Maybe the most in-your-face observation you’ll see on Monday could be the piles of rollerballs and small wet loose slides on steep southerly slopes. Since these slides will be confined to the new snow, they won’t be able to grow big enough to be of any consequence. Similarly, on shaded aspects, the new snow could sluff off steep slopes. In this terrain, it may combine with soft snow from last week and form legitimate loose dry avalanches. Any of these avalanches could run far down the slope over the underlying crust, but they shouldn’t be large enough to hurt you. 

The new snow will accumulate on a variety of old surfaces. Often, you can anticipate what’s underneath by aspect. On southerly slopes, a firm, icy crust was found nearly everywhere prior to the snowfall. In shaded terrain, pockets of softer snow from last week were more the norm. In between (E and W), the surface transitioned from firm to breakable to soft. In wind prone locations, conditions could be a bit more variable. No matter the aspect, the 3/25 crust was either at or near the surface. This stout layer is often a foot or more thick and largely responsible for our stable snowpack and generally safe avalanche conditions. Maybe there’s some older wet weak snow below, but for the time being, that shouldn’t matter. 

A few inches of new snow may help travel conditions, but it won’t change the underlying theme. Often, travel hazards are the greatest danger of the day. Icy slopes, open creeks, random holes, frozen avalanche debris, bare ground, and downed logs make it feel more like early December than the end of March. Give yourself time to deal with all the obstacles and challenging travel.