Douglas Island

Little change to weather or the snowpack yesterday and overnight leaves avalanche hazard at low today.  Surface conditions will remain icy and firm before a new front approaches late this afternoon bringing snow back to the region.  This new snow may not bond well to the varied snow surface conditions that are in place and could be sensitive to triggering by tomorrow morning.  Hazard will be on the rise moving into tomorrow with snow  forecasted to continue overnight before possibly transitioning to rain Monday afternoon. 

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As our week of relatively quiet weather and sustained temperature inversion break down snowfall will return to Douglas Island.  As new snow falls on the icy and hard surface conditions this new snow old snow interface will be a new layer of concern. Winds are also expected to ramp up out of the Southeast putting wind slab and storm slab on the list of avalanche problems moving into the work week. Deeper layers of concern within the snowpack have mostly been broken down by water percolating through the snowpack followed by warm temps at elevation over the last week.  The upper portion of the snowpack has been going through a lot of change with the temperature inversions and cold clear nights. Expect potentially touchy conditions tomorrow especially on steeper terrain and large open slopes. Practice conservative route finding, terrain selection, and make sure  you are with good travel partners who carry and are familar with avalanche rescue gear and practices.