Direct sun & warmth are currently the primary drivers of hazard and the weather forecast indicates that Thursday will be quite warm. Minimize your exposure to large slopes if the snowpack is becoming moist or wet.
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: Freezing level starting near 1500m, rising to around 2200m. Light W/SW winds at all elevations. Clear skies. No significant precipitation expected.FRIDAY: Freezing level starting at 1500m rising to 2100m. Light SW winds at treeline, moderate SW winds at ridgetop. No significant precipitation. Cloud cover rapidly building to overcast by lunch.SATURDAY: Freezing level hovering around 1600m. Moderate SW winds at treeline, Strong SW/W winds at ridgetop. 2 to 4mm precipitation, 2 to 8cm of snow possible. Overcast.
Avalanche Summary
Several cornice falls have been reported in the last few days, some of which have triggered avalanches on slopes below. Small loose wet avalanches running in the storm snow from last weekend have also been observed.
Snowpack Summary
Surface faceting is beginning to work on the 10 to 25cm cm generated by convective snow fall over the weekend. The atmosphere has been unusually calm and wind effect is very isolated. This snow remains dry on high elevation north facing features, but is moist almost everywhere else. Just below this snow you may find tired old wind slabs at upper elevations and the late-March crust. This crust is becoming breakable around 2000m. Moist snow underneath the late-March crust is ubiquitous in most of the region.Persistent weak layers in the mid-pack remain a lingering concern, although they seem to have gone dormant for the time being. In the north of the region, the mid-March crust/facet layer is down 40-60cm and the mid-February crust/facet/surface hoar layer is down about 80 cm. While weak layers formed earlier in the winter remain intact, they too are dormant at this time.
Problems
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.