In areas with no overnight freeze, the sun will start to affect the snow early in the day. Warm and sunny weather is likely to cause loose snow avalanches, especially on southerly aspects. The danger is rated for the warmest part of the day.
Summary
Confidence
High -
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY NIGHT - Mainly clear / light west winds / alpine low temperature near +1 / freezing level 1500 m SUNDAY - Sunny with cloudy periods / light northerly wind / alpine high temperature near +4 / freezing level 1500 mMONDAY - Sunny / east winds, 20-40 km/h / alpine high temperature near +2 / freezing level 1800 mTUESDAY - Mainly sunny / east winds, 10-25 km/h / alpine high temperature near +5 / freezing level 2000 m
Avalanche Summary
When the sun comes out and temperatures rise during the day, loose wet avalanches will be likely on sun-affected slopes.On Friday, there were reports of a few size 2 loose wet and wet slab avalanches on southerly aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Sun exposed slopes in the alpine and on all aspects at treeline and below are becoming moist to wet during the heat of the day. In these areas spring conditions are in effect; the avalanche hazard will fluctuate greatly depending on the strength of the overnight freeze and how quickly the snowpack is warmed up each day. Check out this guide to managing avalanche hazard during spring melt-freeze conditions
HERE.Dry snow may remain on shady slopes in the alpine. In these locations, 50-100 cm of well settled snow overlies a layer of weak
facets that were buried around March 10th. This is currently the primary layer of concern for human triggering persistent slab avalanches, although recent observations suggest it has become difficult to trigger an avalanche on this layer.Not much further below the March 10th interface is a second weak layer of facets buried on February 19th. Recent loose wet and slab avalanches have been observed gouging into this faceted snow and entraining additional mass.
kdevine,
Avalanche Canada
