This is Janet Kellam of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center with your Backcountry Avalanche Advisory and Weather Forecast for Friday, February 22, 2008 at 7:30 am. Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation in partnership with Idaho's Snowmobile License Plate Program & the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center bring you this advisory. Bottom Line: Today the avalanche danger is estimated to be LOW. At low elevations the danger may increase to MODERATE as temperatures warm, creating a wetter snowpack. It could become possible to trigger wet slides that dig deeper into weak, old snow. Todays storm should only bring light amounts of new snow. As snowfall accumulates at mid to upper elevations and temperatures rise it will become possible to trigger shallow sluffs and small soft slabs on steep slope on all aspects, especially where wind drifted. WEEKEND OUTLOOK: Saturday will be a break in the weather, Sunday a wetter, windier storm is forecast which may increase the avalanche danger. Primary Avalanche Concern: Any avalanche problems today will be isolated to specific conditions developing. If we get enough snow to create shallow, wind drifted slabs in very steep terrain, triggering one of these could take you into terrain traps like trees, rocks or steep little burial spots such as gullies and sudden transitions to flats. The other condition that could develop would be at lower elevations. Warm temperatures and precipitation may develop a wetter snowpack by afternoon and given how weak the snow already is in the Central and South valley, any triggered sluffs or slabs could fan out and dig into old layers near the ground. The main role of todays storm will be to push out the ridge of high pressure that has dominated our area and it will set the scene for future stability. Currently, the old snow surfaces consist of a variety of wind and sun crusts on exposed slopes and fine grained faceted snow on sheltered slopes. If the new snow bonds well to the old surfaces, future storms will be less likely to develop avalanche conditions at this interface. If this storm does not bond well to the old surfaces, Sundays snowfall may create a top heavy snowpack prone to avalanche problems. Current Conditions: Light snowfall began at 4Am this morning with temperatures ranging from 22 degrees in Ketchum to 16 degrees at 10,000ft. Southeast winds are blowing in the teens and gusting up to 25mph. Yesterday was cooler than previous days and only slopes that tipped directly into the sun softened during the day, refreezing overnight. Todays snowfall will begin to hide the variety of crusts and textured surfaces. Shady, sheltered aspects have 2 to 4 inches of loose, fine grained faceted snow on the surface, potentially a bad interface for future snow loads. This past week, I also have found a thin layer of this faceted snow on top of and just beneath wind and sun crusts. If the new snow is moist and warm it will glue to the old crusts and create a better bond. If the new snow stays cold and light at this interface, we could develop avalanche problems along the old hard crusts and wind slabs. Mountain Weather Forecast: At lower elevations todays forecast is for 1 to 2 inches of snow with temperatures near 32 degrees, possibly as warm as 37-40 degrees. Mid to upper elevations could see a few more inches of snow and temperatures should remain near or below freezing. Winds have picked up from the southeast but are not expected to get much stronger, blowing 15 to 20mph with stronger gusts possible. Saturday will be cloudy and slightly cooler, just a chance of snow with more of a storm developing Saturday night into Sunday. Tip for the day: The Avalanche Rescue Training Park will remain on Sun Valley Road for awhile longer. It is operating most of the time, but periodically it freezes up and we need to reset it. If we move it to Baker Creek as we usually do this time of year, it is too difficult for us to maintain it until we get this glitch corrected. Please continue to use the Park and let us know when it freezes up.