Still looks like winter in the higher elevations but change is coming rapidly. Significant rain and freezing level rising to mountain top.Hazard rating rising to Extreme for Friday, all day. Good day to stick to riding on the ski hill.
Weather Forecast
Progressive warming and significant precipitation forecast through the bulletin region for the weekend. Expect strong radiation with any direct sun. Freezing level rising to 3500m.
Snowpack Summary
Spring conditions on all aspects and elevations with a melt freeze crust that is dependent on overnight freezing conditions. The snowpack is moist to wet snow to ground below this crust.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity will increase after warm nights and/or with thermal inputs such as rain, solar radiation and daytime warming. The avalanche danger will be lowest after cold nights and strong crust formation and will increase into the afternoon and evening before sunset. Likely trigger spots are rocks, cliffy terrain and shallow snowpack areas.
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.
Wet Slabs
Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.
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.