A weekend storm brought up to 14 inches of snow with 1.3 inches of moisture to the region. Strong winds that initially blew from the south accompanied this snowfall. Winds were from the southeast yesterday morning and backed to the east, north and west during the day. Winds were from the west overnight. These winds created new surface slabs on a variety of aspects and at the upper elevations increased the load on a deeply buried persistent weak layer. At the mid and upper elevations skiers and riders could trigger dense wind slabs on a variety of aspects and have potential to trigger very large deep slab avalanches in some upper elevation avalanche paths. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations except in isolated terrain features.
At the upper elevations deep hard slab avalanches with depths to six feet continue to be a serious concern on west through north to east aspects. Large triggers, such as snowmobiles, are more likely to cause failure of this weak layer. Previous tracks are not an indication of stability with a deep slab problem.
At the mid and upper elevations pockets of dense wind slab up to two feet in depth could be human triggered on a variety of aspects.
Another significant storm system is quickly moving towards the region. Snow is forecast to develop during the morning hours and become heavy later in the day and evening. On Tuesday west winds will back to the southwest and increase to 30 to 40 with gusts to 50 to 60 miles per hour. Temperatures will remain in the single digits and teens. Strong winds and heavy snowfall will combine to rapidly increase the general avalanche hazard at all elevations during the afternoon and evening hours. New wind slabs will gain volume and become increasingly sensitive to human triggers. Rapid loading at the upper elevations will increase the potential for dangerous deep slab avalanches to be human triggered or release naturally. Monitor conditions and be prepared to avoid avalanche terrain if intense loading conditions develop.
