New snow and west winds continue to put an additional load onto a snowpack which has dangerous instabilities associated with a buried drought layer. Excellent terrain evaluation skills and restraint with respect to terrain choices are essential today.
Strong west to west-northwest winds have created new soft slabs up to 18 inches deep on leeward aspects. These new surface slabs lie upon yesterdays soft snow surfaces and could be human triggered in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones.
Older hard slabs three to five feet in depth lie upon the January drought layer. These slabs are dangerous and could be triggered by the weight of a single person or by the release of a soft surface slab. The consequences of being caught by one of these slabs are likely to be severe. A conservative approach to terrain choices is warranted.
Skies will be mostly clear on Saturday with abundant sunshine as a high pressure ridge builds into the region. Temperatures will rise into the mid 20s to low 30s. Winds will be northwesterly at 10 miles per hour.Dangerous avalanche conditions exist and the potential for a large destructive avalanche to occur will be a huge concern on Saturday. In the mountains in of all of our forecast areas two to five feet of new snow that accumulated during the past six days lies upon a January drought surface. Snowmobilers and skiers could be able to cross some steep slopes without triggering a deep hard slab. On other slopes or slopes that have already been crossed multiple times a large avalanche may be triggered by the weight of a single person. It will be nearly impossible to tell which of these slopes are safe and which are not. Due to the potential consequences restraint and conservative terrain choices are essential in this problematic scenario.Humans who venture into steep avalanche terrain could trigger deep hard slabs two to six feet in depth. Warming conditions will create some potential for large destructive avalanches to release naturally and run full path. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE in all our of forecast areas. Backcountry travelers should avoid major avalanche paths and their run-out zones.
