High freezing levels and sunshine will weaken surface snow at upper elevations
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY: Mix of sun and cloud / Light southeast wind / Alpine temperature 9 / Freezing level 2000m MONDAY: Mainly sunny / Light to moderate southeast wind / Alpine temperature 12 / Freezing level 2500m TUESDAY: Rain showers / light to moderate east wind / Alpine temperature 11 / Freezing level 2400m
Avalanche Summary
No recent notable avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 45cm of new snow at upper elevations accumulating Thursday and Friday has settled, bonded and/or been redistributed by southerly winds. This new snow sits on a sun crust or moist snow on steep south-facing slopes, cold dry snow on northerly aspects, and an overall well settled snowpack. Thursday's precipitation fell as rain below 1200m where the surface snow is either wet or presents as a crust. Cornices have formed on many alpine ridge lines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.
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.