Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Wednesday - March 4, 2015 - 6:10am
bottom line

At and above treeline, on steep wind drifted slopes you'll find pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger and human triggered slides are probable. Avalanches triggered in steep, rocky terrain have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect and could get quickly out of hand.

Mid elevation terrain offers MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep wind drifted slopes.

Most other terrain offers a LOW avalanche danger.
special announcement

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current conditions

Wow.... what a great storm for the Skyline! Seems like a foot of snow across the range is the general rule of thumb. Skies are clearing this morning, temperatures are in the mid teens, and winds are light and variable along the Summit. Get out and get after it... it'll be a spectacular day on the Skyline!
recent activity

Boots on the ground observations from the Brothers Beck indicate the storm snow was very reactive yesterday morning.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

At the height of yesterday's storm it was going off and avalanches within the freshly drifted storm snow were easily triggered before you could even get to steep terrain. Today's drifts won't be nearly as sensitive, but they may be a little more connected than you might expect and once triggered, they'll be packing a punch. Easy to detect by their fat round appearance, today's slabs are found on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

While not widespread, but harder to detect, there are swaths of sugary snow near the ground, especially in upper elevation terrain facing East, North, and Northeast. The additional weight of yesterday's snow along with a warming trend, combines a few essential ingredients to bring these dormant weak layers back to life. Once triggered, today's avalanches have the potential to break to weak snow near the ground, particularly in steep, rocky terrain. A slide of this nature could quickly get out of hand and certainly is unmanageable. With all the good options for riding today, there's no reason to pull on the dogs tail. A little patience goes a long way in the mountains... it's spring after-all and in a few days the avalanche danger will become more predictable.
weather

A morning flurry or two lingers over the region, but skies become mostly sunny rather quickly. Temperatures rise into the mid 20's and winds shift to the northwest and remain pretty well behaved, in the 15-25 mph range along the high peaks. Overnight lows dip into the teens and then high pressure takes hold of our weather pattern and the warmup begins Thursday through the weekend.
general announcements

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The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

This advisory will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday, March 7, 2015 or sooner if conditions warrant.