The snowpack is mostly stable below an elevation of 9,000 feet. Areas of unstable snow may exist at the upper elevations. New snow and wind could begin to form new soft slabs on leeward aspects. Dense, older wind slabs exist on steep northerly aspects. These slabs could be triggered by humans who venture into steep chutes, cliff areas and extreme terrain.
At the upper elevations pockets of wind slab one to two feet in depth could triggered by skiers or riders who venture into steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones.
Snow shower activity will decrease overnight with the potential for the favored areas to receive another couple of inches of new snow. Clearing skies are expected on Wednesday. Temperatures will fall into low teens and 20s overnight and rise into the 20s and 30s in the mountains and into the 40s in the valleys. Winds will back to the southwest and decrease to 5 to 15 miles per hour. At the higher elevations small pockets of new wind slab could be triggered by skiers and riders who venture into steep, wind loaded avalanche starting zones. These small slabs could be a hazard in steep couloirs, cliff areas and above terrain traps. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODEARTE above an elevation of 9,000 feet and LOW below that elevation.
