Around 30 inches of snow containing three inches of snow water equivalent fell between Friday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Strong westerly to northwesterly ridgetop winds accompanied this snowfall, creating wind slabs on leeward slopes. These slabs lie upon good sliding surfaces and and could be triggered by backcountry travelers in steep, wind loaded terrain to depths of 30 inches.
Faceted snow persists throughout the snowpack on a variety of aspects. Recent snowfall has increased the load on these weak layers. If triggered, these slabs could release to the ground with depths of two to four feet.
The high pressure ridge over the area will give way to a weak system with limited moisture that will pass by to our north overnight. On Saturday skies will be partly to mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow flurries at the higher elevations. Colder air moving in behind this passing system will keep temperatures in the teens and 20s. Winds will veer to the northwest and decrease to 10 to 15 miles per hour.At the mid and upper elevations slab avalanches up to two feet in depth could be triggered by skiers or riders in very steep terrain. These slabs could step down to depths of four feet. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the mid and upper elevations and LOW below an elevation of 7,500 feet.
