Skiers and riders have the potential to trigger slab avalanches in steep wind loaded terrain. These soft to dense slabs lie over weak faceted snow layers on a variety of aspects. The likelihood of finding unstable, potentially large slabs is greater at the mid and upper elevations, and a chance remains to find isolated pockets of soft slab in steep low elevation terrain. Be wary of letting sunshine and the decreasing sensitivity of this persistent problem affect sound decision making. Evaluate terrain and the snowpack carefully when travelling in the mountains today and avoid very steep wind loaded areas.
At the mid and upper elevations large slab avalanches could be triggered on buried persistent weak snow layers with depths of one to four feet. At the lower elevations recently fallen snow lies upon a snowpack that was mostly faceted last week. Slabs to a foot in depth could be triggered in steep isolated terrain features.
Temperatures inversions and mostly clear skies will be the dominate weather features. Valleys locations will be well below zero by morning and rise into the single digits and teens during the day. Temperatures at 10,000 feet are forecast to fall into the upper single digits tonight and rise into the 20s on Thursday. Winds will back towards the west and may begin to increase. Persistent weak layers and poor snow structure continue to be a concern. At mid and upper elevations large slab avalanches one to three feet in depth could be triggered by humans on steep avalanche prone slopes. These slabs may be more sensitive to human triggers when a skier or rider hits a shallow weak spot and/or with larger triggers such as snowmobiles. In these areas the general avalanche hazard is forecast to be moderate. At the lower elevations (below an elevation of 7,500 feet) the general avalanche hazard is expected be low. Small surface slabs up to a foot in depth could be triggered on isolated terrain features.
