At 5 AM skies were clear and air temperatures were in the mid 20s at an elevation of 10,500 feet. Those early morning temperatures are about five degrees warmer the yesterday morning and 15 degrees warmer than Friday morning. Warming temperatures and early sunshine will be increasing the hazard today. Isolated pockets of instability may exist in extreme terrain and cliff areas. As temperatures warm the potential for wet slides to occur and for cornices to fail will increase. Cornice drops could trigger large slab avalanches. Monitor conditions, evaluate terrain carefully and avoid avalanche prone terrain after significant warming has occurred.
Large cornices exist at the upper elevations and may become unstable as the day warms. Cornice failure could be triggered by the weight of a person or occur naturally. Cornice drops upon steep slopes could trigger large slab avalanches.
The weak system that brought clouds and scattered showers to the region will move east during the evening hours. A stronger Pacific system and associated cold front could bring rain showers and high elevation snow showers to the region by Monday afternoon. Overnight temperatures are forecast to be around 30 degrees. Daytime highs will rise into the 40s in the mountains and into the 50s in the valleys. Winds will be west to west-southwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour.The snowpack is mostly stable; however warm temperatures will increase the potential for wet snow slides in very steep terrain. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW in the morning and may increase to MODERATE if significant warming occurs.
