Snowpack depth and avalanche danger remain minimal.
If you manage to make it to the alpine and find any dry snow, the deepest, wind-loaded slopes would be the most likely to avalanche.
The freezing level is forecasted to drop slightly as precipitation and strong southwest winds continue through the day on Wednesday. This may form fresh and reactive wind slabs in the highest alpine terrain.
With a limited early-season snowpack, there are not many reports from the backcountry. There have been no recent reports of avalanches.
If you head into the mountains, please share any observations or photos on the MIN.
Another bout of heavy precipitation with high freezing levels will leave us with a soaked and shrinking snowpack everywhere other than the highest alpine terrain.
Snow depth varies rapidly with elevation. After this round of rain we expect there to be no snow below 1200 m, 40 cm at most just above tree line, and possibly small pockets of 80-100 cm in the high alpine.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy. 15 to 45 mm of rain. 55-70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level rising rapidly to 2700 m before falling again.
Wednesday
Cloudy. 15 to 25 mm of rain. 50-70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 3 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.
Friday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 10 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
