With cooler temperatures the snowpack is beginning to refreeze but this will take some time. Travel will likely be challenging until a supportive crust forms on the snow surface.
Continue to treat any bigger terrain with caution as the snowpack transitions with this period of cooling.
The reactivity of this layer is likely decreasing with cooling temperatures and a new surface crust forming. However, don't discount this in your decision making, it could take a few days for the upper snowpack to refreeze over this layer and may still be triggerable in the meantime.
New snow will likely form small storm slabs in steep terrain, we may also see wind loading in lee features near ridgecrest.
New snow will slide easily once the sun comes out.
Numerous natural wet loose avalanches to size 2, several wet slab avalanches to size 2.5 and a few persistent slab avalanches to size 3 were observed on Wednesday.
10 - 20 cm of new storm overlies a new melt freeze crust and a slowly refreezing snowpack following the warm temperatures earlier this week. The January drought layer lies 50 –130 cm deep, with snow depths at treeline averaging 130–200 cm.
A passing storm is bringing new snow and cooler temperatures, then clearing on Sunday. See the table below for a more detailed forecast.
Check out the Mountain Weather Forecast for the most up to date information.
