Strong southwest winds with gusts to 76 miles per hour along the higher ridge crests has eroded and redistributed available snow. The potential exists for humans to trigger surface slabs in steep terrain at the mid and upper elevations. At the lower elevations sustained temperatures above freezing and periods of rain have created areas of isothermal snow. Wet slides are possible on very steep slopes.
At the mid and upper elevations skiers and riders could trigger dense surface slabs up to two feet in depth. These slabs lie upon crusts that formed in late January and are unstable on steep slopes where faceted snow lies upon those crusts. Warming temperatures during the day will increase the sensitivity of these slabs to human triggers.
With mostly clear skies overhead temperatures should drop into the 20s before the next storm system begins to spread valley rain and mountain snow into the region tomorrow morning. A fast moving low pressure trough will bring periods of heavy snowfall to the higher elevations during the day. New snow accumulations could exceed six inches at 10,000 feet by sunset. Periods of lighter snowfall are likely into the night. West-southwest winds at 15 with gusts to 25 to 30 miles per hour will accompany the snow. Temperatures will rise into the 30s. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE. Dense surface slabs six inches to two feet in depth could be human triggered in very steep terrain at the mid and upper elevations. Wet slides are possible at the lower elevations on very steep slopes where rain falls upon an isothermal snowpack.
