Aspiring

Increasing winds and possible light snow are forecast by mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Small isolated pockets of wind slab may start to form later in the day.

Be aware that very slick conditions currently exist below around 1650m.

No recent reports.

Evidence of some older avalanches from the 13th to 15th of July on very steep, south-facing aspects around Mt Tyndall is shown in the photo.

If you see any recent avalanche occurrences or have any relevant snowpack information or photos, you can share them via the Public Observations link on the NZAA home page.

Most of the region picked up another 4-5cm of new snow on Saturday evening with strong south west winds. Gale westerly winds last Friday and Saturday have redistributed the 60-70cm of storm snow from last week and mostly stripped west aspects back to hard ice or rock and loaded East aspects above 2000m with 1-2m of dense snow. At around 1800m the snow depth is around 50-70cm and capped by a supportive rain crust.

In some isolated areas on mostly south-facing aspects above around 1900m, weak faceted forms may be starting to develop and should be monitored with future loading.

Forecast for Tuesday

Mostly cloudy, with showers developing late morning. Snow possible to 1500 metres in the afternoon and evening.

Wind at 1000 metres Northwesterly 30 km/h, rising to 50 km/h in the evening.

Wind at 2000 metres Westerly 40 km/h, rising to 60 km/h in the morning, and to gale 75 km/h in the afternoon.

Wind at 3000 metres Southwesterly 45 km/h, rising to westerly gale 80 km/h in the morning, and to severe gale 95 km/h for a time in the afternoon.

Freezing level 1400 metres, lifting to 1800 metres in the afternoon.

Issued: 1:36pm Mon 20 Jul

West-facing aspects may be stripped back to firm ice at all elevations. Below 1700m where rain-soaked snow has frozen, conditions are very slick.

Moderate

• We are uncertain about forecast precipitation amounts.