Cooler temperatures and small amounts of new snow will moderate the avalanche danger on Wednesday and Thursday, then another warm-up comes for the weekend and avalanche danger will rise again. As conditions slowly improve, be careful venturing out into bigger terrain unless it has already avalanched.
A 60-100cm slab of dense snow sits atop the persistent mid-pack facet layer from Jan/Feb. In thin snowpack areas weak depth hoar extends to the ground. There has been a lot of large avalanche activity on this facet layer, and where it hasn't avalanched, triggering this layer remains a big concern
No new activity was reported or observed today, but our observation network is limited today.
Surface crusts on all aspects except north, where good powder snow can be found at treeline and higher. The upper 30 cm of the snowpack contains several crusts, the most prominent being March 27, formed during the rain event last week. Below this, a 70 cm slab of dense snow overlies another 70 cm of weak facets, and test results continue to show weakness and propagation in this layer. This is the main event in the snowpack that should dominate decision-making.
Unsettled conditions are forecast for Wednesday, bringing isolated flurries with accumulations of 5-10 cm along the divide. An upslope storm will deliver more snow in eastern areas, with K-Country expecting more snow. A ridge of high pressure builds on Thursday, bringing clearing and a drying trend. Another warm-up begins on Friday for the weekend, with freezing levels to 2300 m by Saturday.
