West Slopes North

Thanks to clear skies, we suspect there was at least a small refreeze on most wet surfaces Saturday night, and we suspect the same for Sunday night going into Monday. Although this may slow avalanche activity initially, be warned that it won't take much sun for a surface freeze to thaw again. Snow conditions are highly aspect dependent, with deep layers of moist snow on sunny aspects, that are rapidly melting out. Northerly slopes, especially at higher elevations, are surprisingly winterlike still. 

After several days of warm temperatures, there's an increased chance of soggy snow features failing in isolated areas, such as cornices, blocks of wet snow on cliffs, or even a glide failing. Snow falling onto a steep slope beneath features could trigger an avalanche. As you travel, continuously look overhead for any looming hazards. It's hard to tell if and when anything might fail, but it's probably a good bet to skirt slopes beneath them or at least travel quickly through the area.

Upper elevation north-facing slopes were remaining cold and dry on Saturday, but they may have moistened- and subsequently had a few additional wet loose avalanches- on Sunday. We suspect these areas will probably survive with little additional warming until temperatures finally cool Monday night.

Previously, there were a handful of natural and human-triggered slab avalanches failing about a foot deep on upper elevation, shaded terrain, primarily on wind slabs. We suspect any weaknesses to have healed by now, but if you're high in the alpine, information is limited and you should test for any weakness in shallower dry layers as you climb higher. Above our forecast zone, observers on Sunday reported a natural slab avalanche failing high on the slopes on Mt Shuksan (media) and a suspected serac fall high on the slopes of Mt Baker.