Up to a foot of new snow accompanied with strong southwest winds helped to build fresh slabs in the upper elevations overnight. These slabs will be most sensitive in steep upper elevation terrain and have the potential to step down to more deeply buried weak layers within the snowpack. At the mid elevations avalanches will be possible to trigger on steep isolated wind loaded features. Avalanches are unlikely in the low elevations. Involvement in an avalanche carries the potential for traumatic injury due to the early season thin snow cover.
Strong southwest winds combined with a foot of new snow have built slabs up to 2 feet in depth. This problem will be most prominent in the upper elevations and have the potential to step down to deeper layers within the snowpack. Evaluate terrain and signs of wind loading carefully when travelling the higher elevations today.
As the much-wanted unsettled weather exits the region, drier conditions are expected to arrive with little to no snowfall forecasted for tomorrow. Overnight temperatures will drop below zero and then warm into the teens in the mountains and twenties in the valleys. Moderate northwesterly winds will back to the west tomorrow and continue to be at 15 to 25 miles per hour. Tomorrow’s cold and dry weather is expected to decrease the avalanche hazard to Moderate above 8,500 feet, and below that elevation, it will continue to be Low. It is possible for backcountry travelers to trigger slab avalanches up to three feet in depth on avalanche-prone slopes at the upper elevations. These slabs have been formed by the week’s weather events and could fail on a variety of layers from old buried surfaces to density breaks within the more recent snow. Backcountry travelers should use careful assessment when traveling through steep wind loaded terrain.
