Continue to evaluate crust recovery overnight and pay attention to the sun and freezing levels. As they rise, the hazard increases this time of the year.
Confidence
Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain
Weather Forecast
Tonight some light snowfall is expected, up to 6cm possible with markedly cooler temperatures (-6.0) which should provide a meaningful freeze tonight. Winds will be moderate to strong out of the west overnight and through Tuesday. Freeze level will rise to 1900 meters in the afternoon.
Avalanche Summary
Natural avalanche activity has tapered off somewhat because of today's cooler temperatures but again a few large avalanches have been reported as of yesterday up to size 3.0 and there are still plenty of huge cornices that lurk above slopes which have not avalanched in the alpine.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack is a mix of isothermal slop down low as last evenings recovery was almost non-existent. At TL and above, it will depend on the extent of the freeze with elevation change. The snowpack at treeline and above will be a mix of very well settled snow and variable strength crusts. Continue to monitor the freeze and warming as any heat inputs will undermine the delicate nature of the snowpack at this time and for the week ahead.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.
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.