Spotty wind slabs exist, watch for rising temperatures this afternoon.
Weather Forecast
The cold weather is being pushed east by a zonal flow from the Pacific. Expect A mix of sun and cloud today, temps slowly on the rise and light winds from the SW. On Monday we'll start to see precipitation, rising freezing levels and stronger winds! 30-50cm is forecasted from Monday to Thursday next week, with the FL possibly rising to 1500m
Snowpack Summary
The stagnant cold weather pattern has left behind quite a variable upper snowpack. In the Alpine wind slabs are present and or new low density snow, these sit on a variety of old surfaces, from hard windslab to faceted soft snow in protected areas. In Sheltered areas at and below tree line the upper snowpack is right side up.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been observed in the highway corridor since the 10th of January, where we observed wind slabs out of steep terrain to size 3. Small natural avalanches were observed in the back country during this cycle to size 1.5.
Confidence
Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday
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.