Warm alpine air is the continuing trend. Be cautious on steep slopes if the snow feels moist or wet.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light to moderate southerly winds, freezing level around 2700 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.SATURDAY OVERNIGHT: Cloudy with light precipitation in the west of the region, accumulation 0 to 10 mm across the region, moderate to strong southwesterly winds, freezing level around 2700 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy, light to moderate southwesterly winds, freezing level around 3200 m.MONDAY: Sunny, moderate southwesterly winds, freezing level around 3000 m.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed on Thursday. Numerous small to large loose wet avalanches up to size 2 were observed on solar aspects on Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
Warm air temperatures and clear skies have caused melting of the surface snow on south-facing slopes at higher elevations. Crusts may form overnight and may re-melt during the day. Surface hoar up to 10 mm and near-surface faceting have been noted at and near treeline in shady locations. The recent snow from last week is settling and generally bonding well to the late-November rain crusts. Lingering wind slabs on all aspects may be found in the alpine but are trending towards being unreactive. Cornices may be weakening with the warm air temperatures.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.