Triggering an avalanche could be possible, but resulting avalanches will be on the small side of the spectrum.
Keep loose dry avalanches in mind if you are venturing into steep and tight lines. In the right terrain, these could flush down and entrain fast moving snow.
For people venturing into steep alpine terrain, monitor the slope for the presence of wind drited snow. With shifting winds, wind slabs could be present on a variety of aspects.
We have enough cold low density snow on top of a crust to start thinking about dry loose avalanches. These will be small, but could entrain enough snow in steep and constricted terrain to knock a person off their stance and go for a ride.
We have limited information surrounding the wind slab problem. The only report from terrain representing the near treeline zone came from Tumalo summit and east bowl. There were light amounts of drifted snow but no wind slab formation. We lack observations from the above treeline alpine terrain. With shifting winds throughout the night on Friday and into Saturday, I am keeping wind slabs on the radar. I expect them to be small but for people taking advantage of increased visibility on Saturday and venturing into the high country, keep an eye on wind deposited snow, especially in the entrances of steep lines.
Avalanche conditions are currently associated with the surface snow and wind transported snow. Earlier in the week, much of the region developed a surface crust. The new light/low density snow sits on that crust. With the storm coming in cold and dry, the snow had less of a chance to initally stick to the crust. While we are currently only dealing with 5 - 6 inches of new snow, this could be enough to cause some small human triggered avalanches. The real danger will be in steep terrain where going for a slide could have big consequences and/or slopes leading into terrain traps.
What are terrain traps?? Terrain traps are features on a slope that increase the consequence of getting caught in an avalanche. Terrain traps can inlcude cliffs, trees, rocks sticking out of the snow....basically anything that you can bang into, get dragged over, fly over, get stuffed into, etc. Terrain traps can usually be avoided. When you choose a slope to ride, think about how the terrain will affect the outcome of getting caught in an avalanche.
