Weather

We received over 5 inches of water in the last week. While most of this was rain at sea level, most of this was snow towards the peaks. This translated into a couple feet of heavy snow at mid mountain and twice as much on wind loaded western aspects above tree line. Some moderate avalanche activity occurred. Wednesday night’s strong wind left us with a hard ice crust to the peaks. New snow bonding to this should be suspect.

Six inches of new snow has accumulated down to sea level Friday so far. Expect heavy precipitation into Saturday, with moderate to strong winds loading western aspects. The freezing line looks to climb though this event, leaving some slop at sea level and another foot of snow in the upper mountains. Backcountry users should take heed.