Another day of warm temperature and partial sun on Tuesday. Expect a shift Tuesday afternoon with a drop in temperature and some precipitation.
Weather Forecast
MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud in the am then rain showers or flurries into the night/ Light to moderate southeast wind / Alpine temperature 11 / Freezing level 2400m TUESDAY: Cloudy with rain showers / Moderate southeast wind / Alpine temperature 13 / Freezing level 2500m WEDNESDAY: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries / Light west wind / Alpine temperature 1 / Freezing level 1100m
Avalanche Summary
No recent notable avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Surface snow in the past few days has undoubtedly become moist or wet on all aspects to mountain top with sunny skies and a high freezing level. Depending on the time of day, you may find the surface to be moist or be a frozen crust. The overall snowpack is well settled. Cornices formed or have grown more overhanging with the snowfall at the end of last week. They become touchier as they grow in size, as the temperature rises, and/or as they are impacted by the strong late-winter sun.
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.