The summit of Mount Washington and Hermit Lake each received 1.25 cm (0.5 in) of snow in the past 24 hours with high W and WNW winds. This has brought in some small pockets of slab in strong lee areas protected from the winds. So although Thursday's 8.1 cm (3.17 in) of rain has stabilized the snowpack very well realize there are some isolated pockets to watch due to yesterdays light precipitation. Climbers should pay attention to these small isolated pockets of instability when linking patches of ice today. It only takes a very small slab to knock you off your feet. Depending on where you are this could have bad consequences. These pockets DO EXIST. 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.

We have slowly been dropping into a temporary deep freeze over the past 2 days. The summit temperature is currently at -26 C (-14 F) and Hermit Lake sits at -20 C (-4 F). This has created an enormous temperature gradient within the upper snowpack. The temperature 10 cm down from the snow surface (T-10) is at -8.8 C while the snow surface is at -21.5 C at Hermit Lake. This equates to a 12.7 degree C difference in the upper 10 cm causing rapid early faceting in the upper 6-7 cm. Although they are still in early development, between .75mm and 1mm in size, I expect rapid growth to continue over the next 24 hours. This could play out as an interesting factor with the approaching storm.

A significant winter weather machine is chugging North and should effect us by tomorrow evening. As it's still developing the critical information is still unclear, but we should get hit hard once again. It appears that the northern mountains of New Hampshire have the best chance of staying all snow. However, temperatures will rise potentially bringing in sleet or rain near the end of the event on Monday. I believe we will stay all snow in the higher mountains, but with heavier density snows coming at the tail end of the storm we should have an inverted upper snowpack. This storm should move slowly through the area bringing Nor'easter "wrap around" moisture off the Atlantic. The winds are expected to shift quicker than the last storm resulting in more widespread loading on a variety of aspects.

The John Sherburne ski trail was hit hard by Thursdays rain. Expect abrupt waterbars, patches of water ice, and rocks.

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 TODAY.

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.