West Slopes Central

Slightly cooler temperatures and a small uptick in wind will slow any residual avalanche activity on Thursday.  This doesn't mean that avalanches aren't completely out of the question, especially in steep areas where snow is precariously perched on rocks. Expect drastic changes in snow conditions between sunny and shady slopes, and beware of a thin snowpack at lower elevations.

Temperatures reached even higher on Wednesday than the previous few days.  I traveled up to 4800' in the Hwy 2 corridor on Wednesday (OBSERVATION). Despite the last 4 days of warm, sunny weather I saw no nearby wet loose avalanches, although I saw places where rollerballs had run from steep, rocky outcroppings, likely on Sunday. I did see a distant glide avalanche, and our neighboring West North zone reported several in the last few days. If you see glide cracks or snow patches on smooth rock slabs, consider avoiding traveling beneath them. 

Sun has affected south-facing aspects, and the snowpack is shrinking.  Sunny aspects become wet as they warm during the day, but crusts may form overnight. Even with the cooling temperatures on Thursday, you can expect crusts to at least soften during the day. Meanwhile, shady aspects are still holding onto cold, dry snow. I dug a pit on a northeast slope at 4800ft and found slight weaknesses near the surface that didn't affect the current good stability. There was an obvious inversion, and I found surface hoar on lower elevation shady slopes and temperatures were much cooler down in the valleys. 

As always, when traveling in the backcountry, remain aware of your surroundings and if conditions pan out differently from what you'd expect, consider adjusting your plans accordingly. Information this time of year is limited, as fewer backcountry users and avalanche professionals are out in the field in the early winter. We can use your help with gathering more information from the backcountry. Please share information on the snowpack, avalanches or weather by SUBMITTING AN OBSERVATION to help us write better forecasts for you.