Stevens Pass

Challenging crusty surfaces are your largest hazard on Wednesday. There's an unlikely chance you could still trigger an avalanche at upper elevations where snow stayed dry throughout the weekend's storm. 

Although unlikely, upper elevations that may have hung onto dry snow for the duration of the weekend's storm might still harbor wind slabs that have a slim chance of reacting to a human trigger. If you do find yourself at these higher elevations, identify thicker, drifted pillows of snow and dig down to the bottom of the drift to determine whether the slab layer could fail or if it's well bonded to the underlying layers. If there's still weakness at the interface then steer clear of large, steep slopes. We suspect that due to the warm nature of the storm that any weakness, even at upper elevations, may have settled out quickly. 

Two feet of snow fell Saturday night, but it was capped by rain that reached 6000ft or higher. A widespread wet snow avalanche cycle ensued Sunday morning, but skies have since cleared and snow surfaces cooled. All the previously wet snow surfaces froze into a hard or punchy crust. This encompasses lower elevations, mid elevations, and at least a little way into upper elevations. The crust is capping a moist snowpack at lower and mid elevations.

An easterly flow is peaking Wednesday morning, so expect wind. If any low-density snow still exists, it'll probably be redistributed. The east flow will keep temperatures cool and the freezing level is only forecasted to reach 3500ft, so we don't expect the crust to soften.  With this in mind, just remember to prepare for a breezy day with firm or punchy surfaces.  Most of these surfaces aren't smooth, making them even more challenging for travel. 

Stevens Pass Ski Area is now open. Be sure to check uphill policies HERE if you plan on heading that way. If you make it out anywhere in the zone, let us know how conditions were. You can submit an observation HERE.