Another sunny day is expected Saturday, with freezing levels reaching mountain top. Avalanche hazard will start as Low, but will quickly deteriorate with daytime warming and strong solar imputes —start and finish early.
Click the link for advice on dealing with spring conditions.
As Friday and Saturday get progressively warmer, more incidents of cornice failures may occur. Consider and manage your exposure to terrain overhead.
Monitor temperatures and solar input. The likelihood of loose wet avalanches will increase as the day progresses. Start and finish your tour early to avoid this problem.
Solar heating contributed to increased avalanche activity predominantly on South and West aspects Friday. By mid afternoon we were seeing the crust break down which resulted in a loose wet avalanche cycle to size 2. We also received reports of cornice releases.
Hard surface crusts exist to ridgetops in the AM on solar aspects, and at treeline and below on northerly aspects. The top 10-20cm was moistening at the ski hills in the afternoon on Thursday.
On north-facing alpine slopes, 5-15 cm of dry snow over firmer surfaces.
A settled mid-pack sits over the Jan facets down 90 to 150cm, with a well-settled lower snowpack below.
A ridge of high pressure will remain in place on Saturday, bringing clear skies and strong solar input. Freezing levels will rise to mountain tops, with valley bottom temperatures reaching up to +15°C. On Sunday, cloud cover will increase, accompanied by light precipitation as a low-pressure system moves into the forecast region.
