Danger could INCREASE TO CONSIDERABLE with intense radiation on south and west aspects, especially at treeline and below. Be aware of how the warm weather is changing the snowpack.
Weather Forecast
Generally clear skies are expected on Sunday and Monday with increasing cloud on Tuesday. Winds will be mostly light from the southwest. Freezing levels may reach 3200m on Sunday, 2500m on Monday and then 2100m on Tuesday.
Avalanche Summary
Loose wet avalanches up to 2.0 have been reported on solar aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Recent warm temperatures have created melt freeze conditions below 2000m on all aspects and to ridgecrest on south and west facing terrain. Isothermal conditions as deep as 100cm have been reported on South aspects at lower elevations. On high north-facing slopes surfaces are well settled and surface hoar development continues in some areas.Cornices are huge!A layer of surface hoar (buried on March 11; now down about 60 cm) is still being observed in some locations. Triggering this layer has become unlikely, and would most likely require a large trigger or from a thin snowpack zone. Mid and lower snowpack layers are well bonded.
Problems
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.
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.