The snowpack continues to adjust to the very large loading that occurred during the first two weeks of January. Today's strong winds and new snow will be forming pockets of new shallow wind slab and adding more weight to persistent weak layers that are deeply buried in the snowpack. Many very large slab avalanches released naturally on Tuesday in response to an extended storm cycle. At the mid and upper elevations skiers and riders could still trigger large destructive avalanches on those problem layers. At all elevations smaller wind slab avalanches could be human triggered in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones. A careful evaluation of the snowpack and conservative terrain choices are warranted.
Strong winds will be forming shallow pockets of new wind slab on leeward aspects. These fresh slabs could be up to a foot deep and are likely to be sensitive to human triggers during today's frontal passage.
Dangerous deep slab avalanches could be human triggered on a variety of aspects. These persistent slab avalanches could step down to depths of 4 to 8 feet at the mid and upper elevations and to depths of 1 to 3 feet at the lower elevations. Although these destructive slab avalanches are more likely to be triggered by snowmachines the weight of a single skier could also trigger a very large deep slab avalanche.
Light snowfall will be possible overnight and into Saturday before dissipating later in the day. Expect overcast skies through Saturday morning followed by decreasing cloud cover in the afternoon. Overnight lows in the mountains will be in the single digits before rising into the mid-teens during the day. Westerly ridgetop winds will back to the southwest and decreased to 10 to 15 miles per hour.Dangerous avalanche conditions will continue, and the general avalanche hazard is expected to remain Considerable above 7,500 feet on Saturday. Skiers and riders could trigger small pockets of newly formed wind slab in steep, wind loaded terrain. Large to very large persistent deep slab avalanches remain a serious concern. Above 7,500 feet, backcountry travelers could trigger these slabs with depths ranging from 4 to 8 feet. Below 7,500 feet, slabs failing on faceted snow could vary in depth from 1 to 3 feet.
