The National Weather Service Forecasts-

TODAY...SNOW AND RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION TO 2 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL RISING TO 1200 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 43. EAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH BECOMING LIGHT AND VARIABLE IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT...RAIN LIKELY. CHANCE OF SNOW LATE. NO SNOW ACCUMULATION. SNOW LEVEL 700 FEET IN THE EVENING. LOWS 30 TO 35. LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS.

SATURDAY...SNOW LIKELY IN THE MORNING. RAIN LIKELY. LITTLE OR NO SNOW ACCUMULATION. SNOW LEVEL 1000 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 43. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 MPH.

We have seen 2.8\" of precip in the last 48 hours at the Mt Roberts Tram Summit as of 7am today.

The first 26 hours that came in the form of rain. Yesterday morning around 9 it switched around to snow until the noon hour at the tram summit then back to rain until about 9pm last night.

Overnight at the Tram Summit elevations we received about 10\" of new snow and it continuing to accumulate. Winds were from 10-25 out of our traditional SSE. Temperatures fell during this event until this 7am forecast. If all of this rain had fallen as snow at the upper elevations in our starting zones in theory you could have as much as 28-30\" of new snow. That is probably not the case and yet there is definitely more snow in our starting zones than on the weather station gauges.

Todays forecast calls for continued precipitation during a warming trend. With over .8\" of precip in the forecast for the next 12 hour period during a warming trend avalanche danger is HIGH at this time.

EXPECT TO SEE NATURAL AVALANCHES around the region as this big spring storm event probably did not bond real well on the old snow surface.

Remember the old rule of 5 red flags of direct action avalanche danger...

Warming, especially through the point of freezing... You got it...

Winds in the loading range from 10-30mph... You got it...

Recent precip amounts of more than 1\" in 24 hours... and a forecast calling for nearly .1\" an hour for the next 8 hours... YOU GOT IT>..

For the last two you have to get out in the field... If your traveling and you hear whoomphing, see shooting cracks or feel the snowpack collapsing... your there...

And last but not least look for recent avalanches around the region. Even before last nights storm I saw the snow from yesterday morning avalanche out of the white path.

If this weak layer is still present around other paths this new load is likely to trigger it...

So far this snowfall event has been right side up... during todays diurnal warming expect to see this as an upside down storm event with Considerable precip and loading winds.

Natural avalanches are likely. Human triggered avalanches are more than likely.

Please avoid the Flume and Perseverence Trails. Please also consider avoiding Basin Road. Even though it takes a large avalanche to affect this area from the other side danger levels are rising. Please do not park or walk along the avalanche paths on Thane Road. Please also do not walk in the gated areas above the Behrands Neighborhood.

Please limit your risk by limiting your exposure time in Avalanche zones. Please avoid avalanche zones through today and tonight until this storm trend subsides and conditions stabilize.

Please use caution if you choose to play in the hills today.

Its a good day to pick your terrain wisely and be conservative until this new snow has a chance to settle and bond.

Enjoy a beautiful morning... Its SPRING! 😉

Upside-Down Storm:

Lucky for us, most storms deposit new snow with denser snow on the bottom and lighter snow on top?just the way we like it. This is because 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.