Deep instabilities continue to be a concern on steep avalanche prone slopes at the mid and upper elevations. Snowmobiles and skiers could still trigger dangerous hard slab avalanches. Wind slabs that formed during the last storm cycle may still be able to be triggered by the weight of a person in very steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. Avalanches are unlikely below an elevation of 7,500 feet.
Snow that fell over the weekend increased the load on deeply buried layers of faceted snow. Large to very large deep slab avalanches could be triggered by skiers and riders with depths to five feet on those persistent weak layers. The consequences of triggering one of these slabs are likely to be severe.
Soft surface slabs formed by southwest winds could be triggered by skiers and riders who venture into steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. These slabs could be up to two feet in depth.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )A northerly flow will continue to bring arctic air into the area. Skies will continue to be partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of snow flurries or periods of very light snowfall over the mountains. Temperatures are forecast to be below zero overnight and rise into the single digits during the day. Winds will be light from the northwest to west.Deep instabilities continue to be a concern on steep avalanche prone slopes above an elevation of 7,500 feet. Some potential persist for snowmobiles and skiers to trigger dangerous hard slab avalanches up to five feet in depth. Hazards associated with wind slabs that formed during the last storm cycle may linger in very steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the mid and upper elevations (7,500 to 10,500 feet) and LOW below those elevations.
