Stevens Pass

Expect another cold, quiet day with a chance for partly cloudy skies. Challenging travel on firm, icy snow is a greater concern than avalanches in many locations. Use caution in steep terrain where a slip or small, isolated avalanche could lead to an uncontrolled fall. 

Monday will be another cool day with light wind. High to mid-level clouds may increase slightly throughout the day. If you can deal with the sound of the loud snow, it'll be a beautiful day to be in the mountains. Expect firm, icy surfaces in many places, though shaded, open slopes still hold soft snow.

In general, there's little concern for avalanches. At upper elevations, there's a chance you could trigger small chunks of wind-drifted snow in isolated areas. If you venture into steep, high-consequence terrain consider that very small avalanches could be enough to push you into an uncontrolled fall.

On Sunday, an observer found softening corn on south aspects. On Saturday, NWAC forecasters went to Jim Hill. On shaded slopes, they found soft conditions where the recent snow rested on the 1/10 interface over a crust. They found a tiny, isolated pocket of unstable snow, but the resulting mini-avalanche was inconsequential. Many slopes are firm from wind affect or covered in icy crusts. Observers have reported surface hoar on the current surface of many slopes.

Conditions haven't changed much since mid-week. The last measurable snowfall (8-9") was on January 10-11th. On the 14th and 15th, small wet avalanches were reported on steep sunny slopes with warm temperatures and sun. This was also when the crust formed that now adorns many slopes.

Let us know what you see when you're in the mountains by submitting an observation.