This is Chris Lundy of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center
 with your Backcountry Avalanche Advisory and Weather Forecast for
 Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 7:30 am.

 The Wattis Dumke Foundation & the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche
 Center bring you this advisory.

 Special Announcement:
 There is some uncertainty with the strength of the approaching storm.

 If we receive the higher end of the forecasted snowfall or wind, we
 could see unstable avalanche conditions develop that may affect the
 urban interface areas in Warm Springs and elsewhere. Blaine County is
 updating http://www.blainecounty.org/ with the latest avalanche
 recommendations pertaining to these areas. When snowfall begins today,
 we highly recommend avoiding travel on or beneath any steep slope in
 the urban interface areas. Stay alert for changing conditions.

 Avalanche Center staff will be monitoring the storm today and may
 issue an Avalanche Warning depending on how the storm unfolds.

 Bottom Line:
 In the South and Central Valley the avalanche danger is estimated to
 be CONSIDERABLE rising to HIGH by tomorrow morning. This means
 that natural and human triggered slides will become likely. Two feet
 of new snow and strong winds over the weekend have overloaded a weak,
 faceted snowpack causing widespread unstable conditions. The stability
 has improved since the weekend, but todays storm will cause the
 avalanche danger to increase once again through the afternoon and
 night. As the storm intensifies this afternoon, travel on or beneath
 steep slopes is not recommended.

 In the North Valley and Sawtooth Mountains the avalanche danger is
 estimated to be MODERATE rising to CONSIDERABLE by tomorrow
 morning. The snowpack in this region has better adjusted to the
 significant load added over the weekend, but there are still some
 areas of concern. Pockets of weak, faceted snow still exist,
 especially in steep, rocky terrain and shallow areas, and it may be
 possible to trigger a large and destructive slide in these locations.

 Tonights snowfall and wind will form new wind slabs and may overload
 weak interfaces within the recent storm snow.

 Primary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 In the South and Central Valley avalanche conditions have certainly
 improved since the weekend, but the avalanche danger will increase
 once again later today and tonight with the arrival of another storm.

 There is some uncertainty with the strength of the incoming system,
 and it certainly doesnt have the punch of the weekends storm, but we
 are still expecting it to cause a significant rise in the avalanche
 danger by tomorrow morning.

 Throughout this region, 1.5-2 feet of snow sits atop very weak, sugary
 snow. Where the weekends strong wind has transported the new snow,
 these slabs are considerably deeper. As todays storm kicks in and
 begins adding new load to this precarious snowpack, we recommend
 staying off of and out from under steep slopes, even at valley floor
 elevations.

 In the North Valley and Sawtooth Mountains, weak, faceted snow is not
 as widespread but still exists in pockety areas in steep, rocky
 terrain, in the high alpine, and places where the snowpack remained
 shallow prior to this weekends storm. Yesterday on Galena Summit I
 found plenty of places where I could poke my pole through the 2-3 foot
 deep slab and it would fall into weak facets below. A Rutschblock test
 in such an area failed cleanly with a knee bend. In some locations, a
 facet layer may also be found beneath this weekends storm snow. These
 facet layers are buried at least 2-3 feet deep, and any resulting
 slide would likely be large and very dangerous.

 Secondary Avalanche Concern:
 
 
 
 
 Observations from Galena Summit and Mushroom Ridge yesterday indicate
 an easy shear within the recent storm snow about a foot deep. Clean
 shears could also be found beneath the weekends snow in some
 locations. It could be possible to trigger either of these layers on a
 very steep slope, but the greater concern is how these weaknesses will
 respond to the additional load that will be added this afternoon and
 tonight.

 Current Conditions:
 Yesterday was fairly benign weather-wise with snow flurries, light to
 moderate winds, and cool temperatures. Over the past 24 hours, most
 weather stations are reporting 1-2 inches of new snow and
 southwesterly winds averaging 10-15 mph. Mountain temperatures
 yesterday reached the upper single digits to low teens, and this
 morning theyre hovering just above zero degrees.

 Mountain Weather Forecast:
 Another Pacific storm system is approaching our area, but with much
 less strength than the last one. Snowfall should kick in around noon
 today, with 8-12 inches of new snow expected by tomorrow morning.

 Ridgeline winds should be from the south to southwest averaging 15-25
 mph. Upper elevation temperatures should reach the mid to upper teens,
 and the low 20s are expected in the valley.