Reported Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 5:30 AM

Weather Forecast

Today:
Mostly cloudy, light northwest winds but gustier at higher elevations and highs around 40.

Tonight:
Mostly cloudy, light winds and lows around 15

Tomorrow:
Cloudy, trace possible, west winds 5-15 mph and highs in the 30’s

Weather Outlook

Although we have seen some cloudy skies over the last couple of days the air continues to remain stable and relatively dry. As a closed low opens and moves inland it weakens but it will bring the chance of snow arriving on Monday night. More warm weather and cloudy skies are expected today. Overnight lows have barely dropped below freezing for the last several day but we may see a change coming up this week. No significant snow is expected until Monday night and then we should see light to moderate snowfall in and out all week.

Danger Rating

Elevated Caution

MODERATE (Level 2) on steep north through southeast aspects near and above treeline.
LOW (Level 1) on all other aspects and elevations.

Avalanche Problem #1

Wind Slab  
Low
LIKELIHOOD OF TRIGGERING
  
Medium
AVALANCHE SIZE
  
Decreasing Danger
Trend

Last week the weather transported snow onto northerly aspects creating wind slabs and those slabs are going to be our main concern today.

In the Backcountry

Moderate temperatures and no new snow are allowing the snowpack to settle and gain strength but there are still areas of lurking instability. Shady aspect near and above treeline may still have weak snow layers throughout the snowpack. There was a large skier triggered slide on Thursday, December 2, Click here for observation above treeline on a northerly aspect. That layer may still be reactive to skier triggering. Although the possibility of human triggered avalanches is decreasing, once that spot is found, slabs may propagate long distances. Sunny aspects seem to be a little more predictable but backcountry travelers may still see avalanches in isolated areas on specific terrain features where pockets of deeper weaker snow may exist.

Travel Advisory

Look for signs of wind effected snow. Listen for hollow sounds while traveling through the backcountry. The signs may indicate strong over weak layering in the snowpack. Identify terrain and snowpack features where heightened avalanche conditions may exist.

Reported by: Alan