Warm temperatures and sunshine are the main drivers of avalanche hazard at the moment. Minimize your exposure to large slopes if the snowpack is becoming moist or wet.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Thursday: Cloudy with sunny breaks. The freezing level rockets up to 2800 m, maybe even higher. Winds are moderate from the SW. Friday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level remains near 3000 m and winds are moderate increasing to strong from the SW. Saturday: Possible showers/flurries. The freezing level is near 2200 m and winds are strong from the SW.
Avalanche Summary
There are no new reports of avalanches from the region for the past couple days. However, neighbouring regions reported some loose dry slides on Tuesday and widespread natural slab avalanches to size 1.5 above 1800 m on Monday.
Snowpack Summary
Light snow continues to accumulate above 1500-1700 m. Many areas have likely received 20-30 cm in the past several days. Periods of strong W-SW winds may have redistributed the new snow in exposed high elevation terrain, creating fresh wind slabs on lee and cross-loaded slopes. Lower elevation slopes are probably moist or wet and the snowpack continued to rapidly dwindle. A weak rain crust from last weekend is down 30-50cm and generally seems to have a good bond with snow above. There are a couple older persistent weak layers in the midpack that are still intact and have the potential to wake-up with substantial warming or heavy loading. Cornices may become fragile with afternoon warming.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
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.