A cold front will bring a dramatic shift in weather on Wednesday. Increased cloud cover, cooler temperatures, and strengthening winds will bring a more winter-like feel to the region over the next few days.
Lingering wind slabs remain at upper elevations. Heads up on exposed alpine features. The risk is getting taken for a ride in no fall terrain.
A cooling trend will begin Tuesday evening, tapering the loose wet avalanche cycle. Wednesday will be a transition day where we still could see isolated activity on this problem.
We continue to receive reports of wind slab avalanches in the high alpine. Most have been either skier-triggered or initiated by cornice failures, triggering a slab below. A loose wet natural avalanche cycle continued Tuesday, but is expected to taper as a cold front brings increased cloud cover and cooler temperatures to the region. The primary concern on Wednesday will be lingering wind slabs on high northerly aspects.
North-facing aspects above 2600 m hold dry, wind-affected snow. On solar aspects, a crust extends to ridgetop and has been weakening under daytime heating. As a cooling trend moves into the region, a widespread surface crust will lock in the snowpack everywhere except on high north-facing terrain. In valley bottoms, snow will likely continue to melt with daytime warming.
Wednesday will bring a dramatic shift in the weather as a cold front moves into the region. Expect cloud cover and light precipitation throughout the day, with snow accumulation of up to 5 cm at higher elevations. Temperatures will cool, with freezing levels around 2000m on Wednesday, dropping to valley bottoms by Thursday.
