The general avalanche hazard will be increasing during the day. New snow and strong winds will begin to create shallow pockets of new soft slab on slick old snow surfaces and increase the load on existing persistent slabs. Humans who venture into steep avalanche prone terrain could trigger loose snow sluffs, soft surface slabs and in steep northerly aspects above 9,000 feet, dangerous dense slabs. Monitor conditions carefully especially during the later portion of the day when the hazard may rapidly increase.
Today's winds will load new snow onto persistent slabs which lie upon a weak layer of faceted snow on northerly aspects above an elevation of 9,000 feet. This new load will increase the potential for skiers and riders to trigger one of these dense slabs to a depth of three feet. Caution is warranted, and previous tracks on a slope are not an indication of stability.
West winds will begin to form new soft slabs on leewards aspects. These slabs will form on very slick old snow surfaces and will gain depth and volume as the day progresses. In the afternoon skiers or riders could trigger pockets of these new slabs up to 10 inches in depth. On steep northerly aspects above an elevation of 9,000 feet these surface slabs could step down and trigger persistent slabs up to three feet in depth.
Moderate to heavy snowfall will continue overnight and into Monday. A strong cold front will blast through the area during the afternoon and evening hours. Winds will back towards the southwest ahead of the front and veer to the northwest in the evening. Winds will gust to 70 on the summits and to 40 miles per hour in the valleys. Whiteout conditions will be common. These conditions will combine to create very dangerous avalanche conditions at the mid and upper elevations where the general avalanche hazard is expected to be HIGH. Natural avalanches are likely on a variety of aspects and travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. The general avalanche hazard at the lower elevations is expected to increase to MODERATE.
