Yesterday, high temperatures were near 48F and southerly winds averaged about 30 mph, with gusts in the 40-mph range until backing off and wrapping around to the NW. Today, expect clearing skies with a high temperature near 30F and NW winds 10-15 mph. Dry and warming conditions prevail through the rest of the week.
Snowpack Discussion
Warm temps and a strong March sun have rapidly settled last week's snow. Today, sun-exposed slopes will contain a supportive melt-freeze crust following a strong freeze last night. Many slopes on the southerly side of the compass have produced numerous small wet-loose activity over the last few days.
Southwest winds during the height of the storm last Thursday drifted snow onto leeward slopes forming slabs 24"-30" thick near and above treeline.
Digging deeper into the snowpack, we still have a deep persistent slab problem. Weak, sugary, faceted snow still exists near the ground, especially at higher elevations on NW-E aspects. This weak layer is stubborn-to-trigger in areas where the snow is deeper than about 6'. However, in shallow snowpack areas, the additional weight of a rider could affect these buried weak layers. Slopes with steep convexities and rocky, more radical terrain are where you are most likely to trigger an avalanche failing on weak, faceted snow.
