The National Weather Service Forecasts-

TODAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 39. LIGHT WINDS BECOMING
NORTHWEST 5 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW LATE. LOWS AROUND 29. LIGHT WINDS.

FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW. SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 41. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 MPH.

Temperatures remained cool yesterday. Mt Roberts rose up to 0c and Eaglecrest to -2c with the diurnal fluctuation. The fell once again overnight to -3.5c and -6c respectively.

Winds were quite calm around the region yesterday mostly from 0-7mph.

We have not seen any significant snowfall in several days.

This diurnal fluctuation with temperatures coming right up to the point of freezing during the day and falling again overnight continues to build overall strength in the snowpack. The sun also plays a role in all of this with solar radiation adding heat to the snowpack during the warm period of the day.

This helps the snowpack to settle and bond by encouraging sintering.

With no precip in the forecast avalanche danger is LOW today. Natural and Human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

Be aware that during the heat of the day on south facing slopes if the sun stays out and plays a role there is increased danger as the snowpack looses strength by eroding the bonds and adding free moisture to the snowpack.

Should the sun stay out today use caution on south facing slopes later in the day.

Spring is here, Its time to start thinking about getting out on the hill earlier in the day to maximize snowpack stability. Make sure to think about aspect in relation to the sun. Move to North facing slopes later in the day to minimize the affect of solar warming on the snowpack to stay on the safest slopes.

Sintering -

the process of vapor diffusion which joins individual snow grains together forming an ice skeleton of connected grains.

Shear strength -

in a snow slab, the slope parallel component of gravity tends to pull the slab downhill while friction and cohesion between snow surfaces act to hold the slab in place. Slippage between the slab and its undersurface can result, and avalanching can result if gravity induced shear stress between layers exceeds shear strength bonding layers together. Snow layers composed of surface hoar, graupel, low-density snow, etc., have very low shear strengths.