The National Weather Service Forecasts- TODAY...PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING. OTHERWISE...INCREASING CLOUDS. HIGHS AROUND 49. LIGHT WINDS.

TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN. LOWS AROUND 39. LIGHT WINDS.

SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 49. LIGHT WINDS.

SATURDAY NIGHT...RAIN LIKELY LATE. LOWS AROUND 41. LIGHT WINDS. CHANCE OF RAIN 70 PERCENT.

The last two afternoons temperatures were the warmest this month at upper mountain elevations.

Last night temperatures did not fall below freezing on the upper reaches of the mountains locally.

Today will see a fair amount of direct sunlight and quite warm temperatures.

Look to see snow cleaning off rocks in steep areas.

Look to see cornices falling.

In steeper open areas this has the potential to entrain quite a bit of snow mass.

Most activity will be class 1 small slides, peeling the layers off of this seasons snow onion... one layer at a time... point release, surface avalanches. With mostly the snow that has melted and turned to slush on the surface.

As temperatures rise and the nights do not cool nearly as much, the melting can go deeper and deeper into the snowpack. So what was a big block of ice starts to become a slurpee.

If the snowpack can drain the runoff fast enough, the slurpee is out of liquid and becomes stiff... if the snowpack melts too rapidly and the moisture cannot drain it is like a very liquid slurpee... and as you know.. if you turn it on its side.. it will want to slide...

The longer these really warm temps exist and nights stay warm the greater the concern becomes in those steep areas.