By Eric White The Details: This Season: Our season started late and has had higher winds than normal above tree line. Our precipitation is around 104% of normal since September 1. We had heavy snow fall in early January followed by 2 weeks of dry weather with wet weather in the last part of January. We are in a "La Nina" climate condition which often means wetter than normal winters in our area and expectations are for above normal precipitation into the spring of 2008. Weather Observations: We have cloudy skies and calm winds in town this morning, and it is currently 25F in Mt. Shasta and 31F in Dunsmuir. 14-19 inches of snow fell in town over the last 24 hours. Mt. Shasta - We are measuring 95 inches of snow on the ground near tree line with 17 inches of new snow over the last 24 hours and 7 inches of settlement. We have a storm total of 20 inches. Temperatures have ranged between 16F to 27F at 7000 ft. and it is currently a 17F. Winds this morning are estimated at 25 mph below tree line from the WSW. Above tree line winds are estimated at 35 mph from the W and on the upper mountain winds are estimated at 70 mph from the NW. Castle/Mt. Eddy - Mt. Eddy received 20 inches of new snow and 5 inches of settlement in the last 24 hours. We estimate around 7.5 ft. of snow on the ground. The temperature on Mt. Eddy this morning is 17F. Temperatures near Castle Lake have been between 12F-30F over the last 24 hours and currently are around 18F. Weather Forecast: We will have a break today with light snow showers possible and a dusting to 1 inch of snow accumulating. The snow level today will remain below town. A winter storm watch has been posted for tomorrow when another potent storm will hit the north State. It will roll in during the morning with the strongest portion during the late afternoon and evening and continuing into early Sunday morning. We will see another 12-18 inches of snow and the snow level will rise from 2000 ft. early Saturday to 3500-4000 ft. in the afternoon, dropping again at night to 1000-1500 ft. For today, scattered snow showers will be possible with an inch or less. Temperatures will warm into the teens to mid 20's at 6-8000 ft. Winds below tree line will slow down to 5-10 mph from the WSW, moving later to the SW. Above tree line, winds will be around 30 mph from the WNW. On the upper mountain, expect winds to slow from 70-75 mph down to 50 mph from the NW. Snow Pack: Wow, what a dump yesterday! A few hours brought 4+ inches/hr and winds were fairly steady out of the West. Yesterday we found poor stability at around 7000 ft. on a NE aspect. Failures occurred at several levels in the new snow with deeper failures occurring in older snow. Most failures are occurring on density changes in the snow with one layer of facets below a crust continuing to be a good provider. This raises some concerns about deep slab instability. When we did our Rutschblock test on a 30 degree slope, we had a good failure close to 2 feet below the snow surface on a knee bend (R3 - unstable). Although the snow continues to adjust to yesterday's heavy load and settlement is helping to stabilize the snow, many areas are waiting for a trigger. Additionally, today's winds will easily transport snow and continue to load easterly aspects with new loading at mid and upper elevations to southerly aspects. The best conditions will be below tree line on slopes less than 35 degrees and unaffected by the wind. Some important thoughts: This advisory does not apply to Ski Areas or Highways and is for the Mt. Shasta, Castle Lake and Mt. Eddy back country. Use this information for guidance only. You may find different conditions in the backcountry and should travel accordingly. This advisory expires at midnight tonight. As always, use safe travel practices: travel with a partner, travel one at a time in suspect areas, go from one island of safety to another, choose safe routes, wear a transceiver, carry a shovel and probe, and know how to use your gear!