Stevens Pass

Thursday will bring warming temperatures, sun and generally safe avalanche conditions. If you travel through very steep or extreme terrain, consider the consequence of even the smallest avalanche. Expect variable travel conditions including firm, frozen surfaces below 3,500ft and wind-affected snow above treeline. 

While we don't expect southerly slopes to warm significantly, it's a good idea to be alert to rollerballs or other signs of wet avalanches. This week, the wind transported snow above treeline from both the west and the east. These wind events are far enough in the past that triggering a wind slab avalanche is now unlikely. If you're planning to travel in very steep, consequential terrain at upper elevations, it's worth keeping wind slabs or even shallow sluffs on your mind. A slick crust just under the surface has made for the perfect surface to scrape small point releases from very steep slopes. 

While there's not much else contributing to the current avalanche danger, changes in the upper snowpack could create problems in the future. Warm temperatures around the 25th left steep slopes with firm, icy debris and thin crusts just below shallow snow accumulation since then. Below 3,000ft, most surfaces are firm and frozen. Above this elevation, the recent frigid temperatures have weakened the snow surface. Observers have noted widespread faceting in the top couple of inches and surface hoar growing in select open areas. The crust that formed around the MLK holiday weekend is about 1 foot below the surface. Observers have consistently found small facets above, and sometimes below, the crust. We'll be watching these layers in the upper snowpack when the next storms arrive.