Warm temperatures and rain will make for heavy riding conditions. Manage your terrain use carefully and avoid terrain traps.
Confidence
Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Sunday
Weather Forecast
Sunday: 15-25mm of rain Saturday night to Sunday afternoon / Moderate to strong southwest winds / Ridge top temperatures near +5 / Freezing level 2000m rising to 2500m Monday: Mainly cloudy / Light westerly winds / Freezing level at 1100mTuesday: Flurries (5-10 cm of snow) / Light north west winds / Freezing level 900mNote: Confidence is low for forecast wind values and precipitation amounts on Sunday.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Saturday.
Snowpack Summary
Rain and warm temperatures on Friday into Saturday have soaked the 7-13 cm of snow which fell late Thursday. Isolated wind slabs may remain at the highest elevations where winds were strong on Wednesday and Thursday. At treeline and below, the new (saturated) snow overlies either a crust or moist snow from Monday's rain event. In high alpine areas like Sky Pilot and the Chehalis Range the new snow overlies thick storm slabs which developed during the stormy weather at the end of January.The mid and lower snowpack are well consolidated with no significant layers of concern.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.