TODAY...RAIN...MIXING WITH SNOW IN THE MORNING. LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION. SNOW LEVEL INCREASING TO 1000 FT IN THE MORNING. HIGHS AROUND 41. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

TONIGHT...RAIN DIMINISHING LATE. LOWS AROUND 35. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 MPH BECOMING VARIABLE LATE.

THURSDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. HIGHS AROUND 44. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.

Yesterday at the Tram we saw about .4? of precipitation. The snow depth sensor did fluctuate much last night. Throughout the day we saw ranges from 1.5 C to 10 C, then last night after midnight we dipped down to approximately -2 C. The winds stayed fairly calm with occasional gusts almost hitting 20 mph.

For today and tonight we are looking at about .6? of precipitation. The temperatures and winds should be similar to what we were seeing yesterday.

The avalanche danger for the urban zones is still moderate. With the rain we have seen and the stress that has been added to the snowpack it is likely we will have drainage channels that have taken care of some of the weaker layers. There is still a chance of wet slides, but once this flush happens we should have a fairly isothermic snowpack. The trend is still the same due to the fact we are going to continue to see moisture throughout today.

Glide Avalanches:

This is the time of year we are usually tracking glide cracks in the urban start zones. As the snow pack deforms downhill due to gravity and topography, it can break out to the ground in large cracks. This process often happens very slowly, and may or may not culminate in a natural release. When it does release, it can be a very large amount of dense snow. Below are a few links with further reading (cut and paste).

USFS definition:

http://www.fsavalanche.org/encyclopedia/glide.htm

A great 2012 Juneau Empire article on Glide avalanches by Kensington Mine forecaster Ron Simenhois:

http://juneauempire.com/outdoors/2012-03-30/know-snow-glide-avalanches#.U0QEi61dWDk