Spring Conditions. Forecast cloud cover, cooler air temperatures, and dropping freezing levels will all contribute to decrease the likelihood and size of avalanches. Avoid slopes that do not develop a solid crust overnight.
Summary
Weather Forecast
High cloud developing overnight with freezing levels dipping down to 2000 metres by morning. Mix of sun and cloud on Tuesday morning, becoming cloudy with moderate southwest winds in the afternoon. Freezing levels dropping to 1500 metres by Wednesday morning with moderate to strong southwest winds and 3-5 cm of new snow above 1500 metres. Cloudy with moderate winds during the day on Wednesday. Mix of sun and cloud on Thursday with overnight freezing down to 1300 metres.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
Cornices are large, fragile, and could trigger deep slab avalanches that run to valley bottoms. Monitoring the overnight freeze of the snow surface is very important during the spring. If the snow surface does not freeze overnight or if the crust is only a few cm thick, the effect of daytime heating and solar radiation will weaken the snowpack much more quickly than it would if there is a well frozen thick crust. This is because the crust must first melt before the sun can weaken the snowpack. Low elevation and thin snowpack areas have become isothermal, meaning the snowpack is 0 degrees Celsius throughout. An isothermal snowpack is more prone to full depth wet slab avalanches during the heat of the day.
