Recent storm snow is settling rapidly, but good skiing can still be found at upper elevations.
Weather Forecast
Continued light snow late Sunday drying overnight.Monday. Winds shifting to the NW and increasing. Mainly cloudy skies with light flurries possible Tuesday through Wednesday. Winds increasing to moderate west . Freezing levels should remain below 1600m for the period.
Snowpack Summary
10-15cm of recent dense snow has created storm slabs, these have generally bonded well at treeline and below, but may remain reactive on alpine north aspects. Loose wet slides are a concern below treeline in the late afternoon (particularly if the sun is shining). Facets buried beneath February's multiple windslabs remains a layer worth tracking.
Avalanche Summary
A road patrol on Sunday confirmed that solar aspects treeline and BTL have been producing loose wet avalanches to size 1 for the past 2-3 days. An isolated large avalanche (size 2.5) was observed to have failed on a steep rock slab, on a NE aspect in the alpine (2500m) in the past 2-3 days, the dimensions of this slab were 300m wide by 100cm deep.
Confidence
Freezing levels are uncertain on Monday
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
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.