The chance continues for skiers and riders to trigger slab avalanches in steep terrain above 8000 feet. Generally, two persistent weak snow layers lie in the snowpack. Avalanche events are most likely to involve wind formed slabs that lie over surface hoar and facets that were buried last week or could potentially involve a widespread weakness that was buried in late November. Identify features of concern and evaluate the snowpack prior to entering steep avalanche terrain. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations except on isolated terrain features.
In steep wind loaded terrain, slabs formed last Wednesday and Thursday could be triggered to depths of sixteen inches by a single person. The slight chance also continues for deeper slabs to depths of three feet to be triggered by larger forces such as groups of people, snow machines or moving snow initiated higher in the snowpack.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )The weak system could bring one to three inches of snow to the mountains before sunrise with west winds of ten to twenty miles per hour. After a brief respite in the morning, the next storm will arrive on the heals of the exiting system. Snowfall is to resume by mid-day and intensify through the afternoon and night. West winds are to be strong with this system, increasing to thirty plus mile per hour averages by sunset with gusts in the fifties or higher. Snowfall during daylight hours should be on the light side with a few inches expected. Mountain temperatures are to range from the teens in the morning to the mid-twenties in the afternoon. The general avalanche hazard is expected to remain Moderate above 7500 feet and low below that elevation. The problem involves two different layers of persistent weak snow. The more recently buried weakness could have depths to one foot while the older layers could release to three feet. New snowfall amounts are expected to be light through most of the day, however if the storm arrives early shallow soft wind slabs will form in steep leeward slopes.
