The avalanche hazard will rise on slopes with prolonged exposure to the sun. Plan to travel early to take advantage of the crust and be off big slopes by mid-day.
Weather Forecast
Cloudy conditions through Sunday with gusty SW winds and little precipitation expected. A cold overnight low on Sunday night will significantly recover the melt freeze crust from treeline to valley bottom. Sunny warm conditions on Monday and a significant rain event expected on Tue/Wed. The avalanche danger will rise accordingly.
Snowpack Summary
The crust that formed Fri. night was starting to break down on solar aspects below treeline by Sat. PM, elsewhere it stayed intact. Cloudy conditions overnight may prevent a strong crust from reforming. Generally the snowpack is; moist snow below the crust to TL, well bonded and warm mid-pack, and a weak faceted base. Cornices are large.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche observed today. Recent slab activity has been observed on SW aspects at treeline on the Feb 10th layer. loose dry out of steep SW rocky alpine features and loose wet on solar aspect at treeline and below.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Sunday
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.
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.