The National Weather Service Forecasts-

TODAY...SNOW AND RAIN SHOWERS IN THE MORNING BECOMING RAIN SHOWERS AND DIMINISHING IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. SNOW LEVEL RISING TO 900 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 37. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 MPH.

TONIGHT...RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY...THEN SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY LATE. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 1 INCH. SNOW LEVEL 700 FEET IN THE EVENING. LOWS AROUND 29. EAST WIND 10 MPH.

SUNDAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. HIGHS
AROUND 33. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 MPH IN THE MORNING BECOMING LIGHT
AND VARIABLE.

It warmed yesterday with temperatures coming up to 29 at the Tram and 27 at the Eaglecrest summit. This mornings temperatures have dropped back down a bit to 26 at the Tram and 24 at Eaglecrest.

We received 25mm of precipitation in the last 44 hours bringing Moderate amounts (18cm) of new snow at the Mt Roberts Tram Summit. During the first part of the storm we received 15cm of snow during 12mm of precip... since that time we received only another 3cm of new snow with the additional load of 13mm of precip... So it is easy to see the snow densities increased later in the storm placing heavier snow on the lighter snow in place creating an \"upside down\" snowpack. This is the primary concern for the day.

We had winds yesterday during the first part of the storm from 30-45 mph. Yesterday afternoon around 4 those winds died off to 10-20mph. Look to see windloading on N-W facing slopes.

Before this storm we also had a few small windslabs on isolated south facing slopes along the channel. These become more of a concern as we continue to place load on these previously weak layers.

Slidepaths are very filled in right now and it wont take much of a slide to get a lot of snow moving in areas.

With continued precip today into tomorrow and moderate winds avalanche danger is Considerable at this time.

Natural avalanches possible, potentially destructive avalanches may come near or reach developed areas.

Human triggered avalanches probable in windloaded areas. Be cautious on steep open unsupported slopes. Be aware of weak cornices.

Be safe out there and have a great day.

Upside-Down Storm:

Most snow comes from cold fonts, which usually start out warm and windy but end up cold and calm. But sometimes snowstorms deposit denser, stiffer snow on top of softer, fluffier snow. We call this ?upside down? snow. We often call it ?slabby? or ?punchy? meaning that you punch through the surface slab into the softer snow below, making for difficult riding and trail breaking conditions. It also means that we need to carefully monitor avalanche conditions within the new snow because?by definition?a denser slab has been recently deposited on top of a weaker layer, which should make anyone?s avalanche antennae stand at attention. Most instabilities within upside-down snow stabilize within a day or two.

The kind of weather conditions that often produce upside-down snow include warm fronts, storms in which the wind blows harder at the end of the storm than the beginning, or storms that end with an unstable airmass, which can precipitate a lot of graupel within instability showers.