Little change, but be aware that with spring-like conditions hazard may rise with daytime heating
Confidence
Good - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
No significant precipitation in the forecast for the next few days although isolated showers may produce small amounts of precipitation in select locations.Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level remains near 1800 m and winds ease to light. Sunday: Mainly sunny. The freezing level jumps to a little over 2000 m and wind could rise to moderate SW by the end of the day.
Avalanche Summary
Recent reports of loose sluffs in steep terrain, and thin soft wind slabs reacting to slope cuts with minimal propagation. Explosive testing also resulted in one cornice fall that did not trigger a slab on the slope below.
Snowpack Summary
Roughly 5-10 cm of recent storm snow adds to the variable amounts of dry facetted snow on top of the mid-February crust with associated buried surface hoar in sheltered areas, or, more recent melt-freeze crusts on sun-exposed slopes. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer can be found about a metre below the surface in deeper snowpack areas. The mid-January surface hoar, can be found below that. These layers have gained significant strength, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased dramatically. However, triggering may be possible with a large input such as cornice fall, or an avalanche stepping down, especially on slopes that see a lot of sun.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.