Thursday's storm will bring 4-8 inches of new snow and moderate wind. Large avalanches in wind drifted snow will be easy to trigger by the afternoon near and above treeline. Stick to lower angle sheltered terrain.
The new snow, in combination with the existing light density snow, will build fresh wind slabs near and above treeline. When traveling keep an eye out for drifting snow, dune like formations, cornices, and drum like snow (strong over weak). If you begin to identify the signs and symptoms of wind slabs make sure you avoid slopes greater than 30 degrees and don't travel under open steep slopes.
Over the past couple of days while traveling in the Western Wallowas and Northern Elkhorns forecasters found 6-8" of fresh dry snow. Digging into the snowpack revealed good structure and no alarming instability was noted during testing. We are very fortunate that most of the mid-Fall snow we received either melted or became welded together at the base of the snowpack. Steady snowfall and cold temperatures have produced a right side up snowpack, without any significant layers of concern. For now, our primary avalanche problems are related to surface level conditions, in the form of storm and wind slabs. Check out recent observations from forecaster Victor McNeil here and here.
