Be aware of daytime heating and solar radiation that will cause a rapid increase in danger levels. It is Spring - start early and finish early. Small amounts of new snow in the next couple of days should do little to change the Danger Ratings.
Confidence
Good - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Spring time weather patterns are bringing a mix of sunny skies and convective flurries. Temperatures are near -7 on Wednesday with somewhere between 5 and 10cm of new snow in the next 24 to 36hrs. Winds will be moderate from the West. The rest of the week will see occasional light flurries and generally cloudy skies.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new reported or observed, but observations have been very limited that last two days.
Snowpack Summary
Spring time conditions dominate the snowpack with thick crusts on all aspects below 2200m and on solar aspects to mountain top. Sheltered North aspects at high elevations hold dry snow. The Feb 10th persistent weak layer and the basal facets could awaken during times of intense solar radiation and/or daytime heating.
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.
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.