At the mid and upper elevations persistent slabs up to three feet in depth lie upon a base of weak, faceted snow. New snow and winds will be loading these dangerous slabs and increasing the potential for these slabs to be human triggered or release naturally with depths to four feet. Once released these slabs have potential to run long distances.
Increasing west to southwest winds will continue to build new soft slabs on leeward aspects. These slab could build to depths of two feet and will increase in sensitivity to human triggers as the day progresses. Once triggered these slabs could step down to weak layers of faceted snow near the base of the snowpack with depths of two to four feet
Moderate to heavy snowfall will continue through the night and into Tuesday morning with additional accumulations of 6 to 12 inches likely. Very strong west to southwest winds with gusts to 65 miles per hour will accompany this snowfall. Temperatures will remain in the teens in the mountains and in the 20s in the valleys.Intense snowfall and strong winds will create very dangerous avalanche conditions. Large natural avalanches are likely. Natural and human triggered avalanches may be destructive and run long distances. The general avalanche hazard is HIGH and travel in avalanche terrain including avalanche run-out zones is not recommended.
