Until cold temperatures lock in this hot mess of a snowpack, dangerous avalanche conditions with persist.
It's a good idea to avoid avalanche terrain and spend time at the ski resort.
Wet loose avalanche activity can be expected from steep terrain. These avalanches could entrain significant mass and gouge to ground in shallow snowpack areas.
Wet slab avalanches could fail on or step down to buried weak layers in the mid and lower snowpack resulting in very large avalanches.
A widespread natural avalanche cycle occurred over the past few days as rain impacted the snowpack. Numerous size 1-3 wet loose, wet slab and persistent slab avalanches have been observed on all aspects and elevations.
Until the snowpack gets locked in by cold temperatures, human-triggered avalanches remain likely and large natural avalanches are possible. Avoid overhead exposure, large natural avalanches could entrain significant mass and run to valley bottom.
Rain has created a moist or wet upper snowpack at all elevations. A weak surface crust may have formed overnight but will break down quickly throughout the day.
There is a layer of sugary facets that are buried 30-50 cm deep and in some places sits on a crust from December. This layer has been reactive in snowpack tests.
The lower snowpack contains a series of crusts and faceted snow. Expect snow depth at treeline to be 70 to 120 cm.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy with clear periods. Alpine wind southwest 10 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C, freezing level 3000 m.
Wednesday
Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine wind southwest 10 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature 4 °C, freezing level 3000 m.
Thursday
Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine wind southwest 10 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature 2 °C, freezing level 2500 m.
Friday
Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Alpine wind light and variable. Treeline temperature 0 °C, freezing level 2000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
