At the upper elevations strong west winds continue to drift snow into avalanche starting zones along the lee aspects of exposed ridge crests and will increase the hazard as the day progresses. Humans who venture into avalanche prone terrain and cliff areas could trigger surface slabs up to two feet in depth. Some potential may remain for humans to trigger a deep slab that could fail on a persistent weak layer of faceted snow and crust near the base of the snowpack.
At the higher elevations strong west winds will continue to load leeward aspects. Humans who venture into steep, wind loaded avalanche starting zones could trigger wind slabs up to two feet deep.
At the higher elevations some potential may remain for humans to trigger hard slabs up to four feet in depth on steep northerly aspects. A conservation approach is advised on suspect slopes.
A high impact storm will move over the region. The current snowfall is expected to increase in intensity and continue through the night and into Saturday morning. Additional accumulations of 8 to 16 inches in the mountains and 5 to 10 inches in the valleys are expected. Very strong west winds with speeds of 40 and gusts to 60 miles per hour will accompany the snowfall. Temperatures will drop into the single digits. These conditions will combine to create bitter wind chills and areas of blowing snow that could severely limit visibility.The general avalanche hazard will rapidly increase overnight and is expected to be CONSIDERABLE at the higher elevations and MODERATE at the mid elevations on Saturday. Rapid loading will create new soft slabs up to two feet deep on leeward aspects. These slabs will be unstable on steep slopes and are likely to be easily triggered by skiers or riders and could release naturally. Some potential may persist for these surface slabs to step down to persistent weak layers buried deeper in the snowpack. Excellent terrain evaluation skills and a conservative approach to avalanche terrain will be necessary for safe travel in the mountains. At the lower elevations the new snow will accumulate on mostly bare ground and therefore the general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW.
