Heavy precipitation during the past 24 hours will create dangerous avalanche conditions at elevations above 6,000'. Avalanche danger is on the upper end of CONSIDERABLE and approaching HIGH at upper elevations. Avoid riding steep terrain over 30 degrees on Tuesday. The snowpack will need some time to settle to this new loading. With temperatures plummeting across the area avalanche danger will decline at the lower elevation bands as yesterdays wet snow locks together.
We are seeing some dynamic weather the last 24 hours. The rain/snow line moved up to about 6,000' yesterday. Above that elevation we will have a fresh load of dense snow that will be quite touchy for the next 24 hours. As the temperatures drop and have time to settle this new snow will stabilize.
Yesterday we had winds out of the south-west, switching to north-west over night. With ample amounts of new snow and strong winds at upper elevations anticipate that you may easily trigger wind slabs on any aspect at upper elevations. These wind slabs will likely increase in thickness and sensitivity through mid day on Tuesday. Steep gullies and steep terrain directly below ridgelines should be avoided on Tuesday.
In the last week our snowpack as become much more complex with the addition of new snow and crust layers. The most concerning issue right now is a number of crust layers with weak, sugary snow above and below the crusts. We are finding these weak combos in all 3 of the mountain ranges across the Kootenai. They can be found at varying depths dependant on location. The chief complaint right now is a fresh load of heavy snow will stress these layers and make them more susceptible to human triggers or large step-down avalanches. Give 'em a chance to adapt to this new load, if you trigger one of these deeper weak layers you won't walk away from it.
It's been a wild ride the last 24 hours but I will keep it brief and to the point. Yesterday the snowpack took on a lot of moisture. At elevations below 6,000' it came mostly as rain, as the temperatures plummet the snowpack below this elevation will lock back together and avalanche danger should decline. Above 6,000' we gained significant snowfall that came in dense, heavy and with lots of wind. With the winds forecasted to continue cranking through-out the morning we can expect some pretty touchy conditions out there until the new snow and wind slabs have had time to settle. I would advise staying off of any steep terrain at these upper elevations through the middle of the week.
For yesterdays observations taken out of the Purcell Range we had collapsing, shooting cracks and stability tests that propagated in the top 30 cm. of new snow. We also recieved reports of fresh avalanche crowns that released in the Keeler-Rattle area. All of these things are bulls-eye data, I like to say that these are the easy days to make the right call. The evidence is right in front of you without getting the microscope out! Again I would stress that we are on the upper-end of CONSIDERABLE danger and close to HIGH. Play a safe game out there today!
