Sunshine are warmth are the primary drivers of avalanche hazard. Avoid sun exposed slopes in the afternoon, and stick to higher, shady aspects for the best snow.
Summary
Confidence
Good - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Mainly sunny. The freezing level climbs to around 2000 m during the day and drops below 1500 m overnight. Winds are light and variable. Thursday: Mainly sunny. The freezing level climbs to around 2000 m during the day and drops below 1500 m overnight. Winds are light and variable. Friday: Cloudy with light to moderate snow. The freezing level lowers to 1500 m and winds increase to moderate or strong from the S-SW.
Avalanche Summary
Moist loose avalanches have been reported on steep sun-exposed slopes, and one natural cornice fall (size 2) was reported on Monday. This cornice did not trigger a slab on the slope below.
Snowpack Summary
On shady slopes, 20-30 cm of low density storm snow sits on a strong and supportive rain crust that was buried last Saturday and extends as high as 2100m. Previous west-southwesterly winds have created thin new wind slabs in lee terrain, especially high N aspects. Expect an ongoing melt-freeze cycle on sun-exposed slopes. A facet/crust layer that was buried in mid-March is now approximately 50-100 cm down. Recently it was found down 55 cm near the Duffey Lake Road, and produced moderate sudden results. This remains a concern in the region because of it's potential for very large avalanches. Cornices are now large and mature and may collapse with daytime warming and intense sunshine.