If the sun comes out on Tuesday, recent storm snow and cornices may release naturally. Cornice falls may trigger deeply buried weak layers resulting in very large avalanches.
Confidence
Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Scattered flurries overnight with light northwest winds and freezing levels down to valley bottoms. On Tuesday, light westerly winds with light precipitation and freezing levels up to 1700 metres during the day with periods of broken skies. On Wednesday, expect 5-10 cm of new snow with moderate southwest winds and a good overnight freeze. Cloudy with freezing levels rising to 1500 metres during the day. On Thursday, continued cloudy with moderate-strong westerly winds and 10-15 cm of new snow.
Avalanche Summary
On Sunday we had reports of natural cornice falls up to size 3.0 that triggered persistent slab avalanches on the slopes below, and solar triggered persistent slab avalanches up to size 2.5 in the alpine from slopes steeper than 40 degrees. On Saturday cornice fall produced avalanches to size 3 on north and northeast facing features between 2000 and 2400 m, failing on the late February persistent weak layer. Small natural storm and wind slabs were also reported on northwest, northeast and east facing slopes between 2100 and 2400 m.
Snowpack Summary
Large cornices loom over many ridge lines and many are teetering on the brink of failure. Old wind slabs may remain a problem on high elevation north facing features. The make up of the late February persistent weak layer is an aspect dependant mix of surface hoar, facets and/or a thick crust down around 60 to 110 cm below the snow surface. Large triggers like natural cornice fall and explosive control work continue to initiate avalanches failing on this interface. The recent warm to cool temperatures should give the overlying slab a bit of strength, but it has yet to prove itself trustworthy. Unfortunately there's not much of a reliable pattern telling us what exact aspects are most suspect. As a precautionary measure, we recommend remaining suspicious of steep unsupported features at and above treeline.
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.
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.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.