The summit of Mt. Washington received 3.25 cm (1.28 in) of water equivalant in the past 24 hours. The vast majority of this fell in the form of rain and freezing rain with some light snow early this morning. Hermit Lake endured periods of heavy rain with a rate of up to 1.25 cm (.5 in) an hour falling late yesterday with a total of 8.1 cm (3.17 in) for the 24 hour period! The rain highly effected settlement rates bringing last Sundays storm of 106 cm (42 in) down to 30 cm (12 in). Since 9 pm last night the temperature has dropped 18 degrees C (30 degrees F) and is expected to continue another several degrees to -21 C (-5 F). This is stabilizing the snowpack rapidly. As it freezes free water it slowly creates a thickening frozen bridge over the wet snow beneath. The top ten centimeters has a temperature difference of 4.3 degrees C creating an ideal scenario for vapor movement and the creation of faceting. Some near surface faceting would be expected over the next couple of days.

Light snow came in early this morning and the forecast is calling for up to another 5 cm (2 in) through the day. West winds will load this new precipitation on existing frozen pockets of snow. Although I believe this may load several pockets with some thin slabs it shouldn't cause widespread problems. But, keep your avalanche eyes open as you enter avalanche terrain and expect the potential for an increasing avalanche danger in new slab. Climbers should also be on the look out for ice dams. There is still a lot of water running out in the gullies and open faces.

Another storm is on the way. It's a bit far out to have a high degree of confidence in the models, but it appears that precipitation is on the way for Sunday night through Monday. The biggest question right now concerns the temperatures in the second half of the event. It's possible that we will end in rain or sleet. Here in the high mountains the verdict is still out. I'm crossing all 20 digits for precipitation of the frozen variety.

Although the crust is developing it still can not support body weight. You absolutely need skis or snow-shoes to travel off the beaten path. Even with them expect your trip to be slow and difficult. With the rain followed by cold temperatures, severe crusts may develop in the woods and unpacked trails. THE LION HEAD SUMMER TRAIL IS CLOSED. THE WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. THE UPPER WINTER SIGN WILL GO UP TOMORROW MORNING.

AS ALWAYS, THIS ADVISORY IS ONE MORE TOOL TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN. It should be used along with your own snow stability assessments, knowledge of safe travel techniques, skill in reading mountain weather's effect on the snowpack, and avalanche rescue.