East Cabinet Mountains

Snowpack conditions across the Kootenai Zone will be stable through the day on Friday.

On Friday night a big shift in weather will cause avalanche danger to rise dramatically on Saturday and Sunday as heavy snowfall and strong winds are predicted to enter the area.

During the past two weeks the area has been under a stable weather pattern with mild and sunny days followed by cold nights. The repeated freeze-thaw cycles that the snowpack has been going through has left us with a very stable snowpack. Small wet loose avalanches in the afternoon hours have been the primary issue of concern. These small avalanches won't be a problem on Friday as the area will be under cloudy skies today. Our snowpack today is stable, it also has a firm melt-freeze crust on all open terrain that has seen sunshine the past two weeks. Shaded northerly facing terrain has stayed cold and developed weak, sugary snow on the surface. These surfaces will create a smooth bed surface and bond poorly to the new snow predicted to fall on Saturday. Current weather forecasts show there is high confidence that the Cabinet Mountains will see 12-18" of fresh snow by Saturday night. Throw in a southwest wind in the 30-40 mph range and we have all the ingredients to produce avalanches on Saturday and Sunday.