Wet snow avalanches will be the primary concern over the next couple of days with daytime highs reaching into the 40's. Once the snow becomes saturated avoid traveling on or underneath steep slopes and open faces. Wet loose avalanches will start out on ESE facing slopes and migrate around the compass dial throughout the day. Consider your route home at the end of the day carefully, and if you are sinking to your boot tops in wet snow you should stick to slopes <30 degrees.
Wet loose avalanches often start out in steep, rocky terrain as a snowball that picks up more snow as it moves downhill. You will start to see this avalanche problem early in the day on ESE facing slopes, and then work around to S-W facing aspects later in the day. Signs of wet loose avalanches include roller balls, pinwheels, and large cinnamon rolls.
It's really starting to feel like spring in the Blues. With daytime highs in the low 40's and lots of sunshine, we need to start to change our travel mindset. Fortunately, the nighttime temperatures are well below freezing, so the snowpack has a chance to lock up at night. Dealing with wet snow avalanche problems introduces a whole new cast of characters to deal with. The best advice is to plan your route in and out of the mountains wisely. Finishing the day traveling on or underneath a South or West facing aspect greater than 30 degrees increases your exposure. Once you're sinking to your boot tops in wet, saturated snow consider the following: head home, look for higher elevation more North facing terrain, stay off and out from under slopes exceeding 30 degrees. You should also give cornices a wide berth as they may begin to sag and want to break off with the warm daytime temperatures.
