Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Sunday - January 24, 2016 - 6:43am
bottom line

The upper elevation north, east and south aspects have a CONSIDERABLE danger today, especially if it gets windy along the high ridges. Human triggered avalanches are likely. In the mid elevations out of the wind, the avalanche danger is MODERATE where human triggered avalanches are possible. Avoid any steep slope where the wind is drifting snow onto it. Watch for large fresh pillows and avoid them. Cracking of the new snow is also an indicator of unstable snow.
current conditions

The Skyline picked up 4 to 8 inches of snow overnight in a southwest flow. The flow is now shifting to the northwest and we're seeing just a hint of the wind starting to increase. Temperatures are in the low 20s.
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

The wind is the wild card. It looks like it is supposed to increase from the northwest as the day goes on. Drifting of the new snow is always a cause for concern. The new drifts may be sensitive on their own but the more dangerous situation is where the wind deposits a new drift on top of an area with weak snow deeper in the snowpack. It is possible that we may see human triggered avalanches breaking to the ground if the wind does increase.
weather

Snow showers will linger through today. It is difficult to say how much additional snow we'll pick up but we could see another 2 to 5 inches. Northwest wind should increase in speed over the higher terrain with gusts to around 30 mph. Temperatures will remain in the low 20s. It looks like the weather clears out for most of the upcoming week with cool temperatures on Monday and increasing as the week goes on. A storm is on the horizon for next weekend.
general announcements

We will publish full detailed advisories Saturday and Sunday mornings by 7am.  We will also be publishing basic avalanche danger ratings & info during the week.

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