Well there isn't much need to get into some long diatribe about some elaborate snow physics issue today. We have good old fashion full winter conditions with lots of snow and BIG WIND causing massive loading and increasing instability. The storm began dropping moisture during the late morning and it's still snowing as wrap around upslope snow hits the higher elevations. With this said precipitation type was any thing but homogenous. We picked up snow, sleet, freezing rain, large ice pellets, back to sleet, more snow, etc. Simply we have 3 distinct layers that have fallen with this storm. An unconsolidated snow layer began the storm consisting of needles, irregulars, rimed stellars, columns, and spatial dendrites due to the temperatures taking huge swings at upper air elevations. This was followed by a period of sleet and pellets that are lightly bonded, but do not form an actual crust. All of this is topped of with the current wrap around snow made up of what appears to be heavily rimed spatial dendrites. The densities are very high at all elevations averaging +/- 25% which feels like mud when you walk through it. Here at the 3800 ft level this has packed down to 6" (15cm) as of 7:00 am and it's still snowing. This doesn't sound like much for all this build up discussion, but accumulations differ vastly around the mountain based on when ice pellets formed versus snow. At about 4400 ft in Huntington we have +/- 9" (22cm). Now the loading part. WINDS WILL RAMP UP FROM THE WEST TO APPROXIAMATELY 120mph (193kph) TODAY! Loading will be intense today as snow gets blown off the Mount Washington Hotel roof in Crawford Notch and becomes deposited in the Tuckerman Bowl. TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN INCLUDING RUN OUT PATHS IS NOT RECOMMENDED. This includes "just going to take a look" as you can't see anything anyway. As the avalanche cycle begins we anticipate some large slides running big to maximum path length. The lines between High and Extreme avalanche danger are often grey, but expect some areas to be pushing the upper end of the High definition. We will be close to the Extreme rating in the Tuckerman Bowl today. In addition to the avalanche problems the winds are creating they will be gusty which means as you try to stay upright in 85mph winds (which is already nearly impossible) you'll get hit with a 115-120mph wall of wind! This will also cause white out conditions above treeline in addition to impossible travel. In the end I know it's your Saturday, but today is NOT a good day for above treeline travel or avalanche terrain. Hit the Sherburne Ski trail and play it smart.

Crampons, an ice axe and solid self arrest skills are needed to travel safely if you plan on traveling in steep terrain, including the Lion Head Winter Route. The Sherburne Ski Trail is open with new snow and full coverage. Anticipate drifting and scouring later in the day.