Avalanche Forecast

High

We can expect the cooler temperatures in the valley floor to continue with the clear skies forecasted overnight and then slightly warmer temperatures at the higher elevations.  With the intense sun we may even see a spring like feel on alpine slopes on solar aspects. 

No new avalanche activity was noted on Friday but observations were limited.

The colder temps are facetting out the entire snowpack at the lower elevations while at the higher elevations the temperatures have been at or slightly above freezing. As a result, two different things are going on in the snowpack. At the lower elevations, we are seeing it weaken and loose strength making travel challenging in some areas (thinner areas especially). In the Alpine some steeper solar alpine slopes may soon have a thin temperature crust on the surface of the snow as a result of the warmer temperatures. The other thing we are seeing in alpine areas is the wind has created pockets of stiffer windslabs that are reacting to skier traffic. Gullies, cross-loaded features and ridgelines on all aspects are where we are seeing these slabs.