Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain

MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with clear periods. Freezing level valley bottom, temperature inversion with cooler air in the valleys. Alpine high near +2. Light winds. TUESDAY: Sunny and warm. Freezing level near 1400 m. Alpine high near 0. Light winds. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulation. Freezing level near 1300 m. Alpine high near -3. Light to moderate south winds. THURSDAY: Cloudy with flurries, up to 10 cm. Freezing level 1000 m. Alpine high -1. Moderate south-southeast winds.More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

There were several size 1-1.5 loose wet avalanches on sunny slopes on Saturday.A wind-loaded NW slope was triggered remotely by skiers on Copper Mountain on Friday. The avalanche was reported to have failed on a layer of surface hoar. See the MIN report here.

Warming has promoted settlement of upper snowpack layers and created surface crusts. A melt-freeze crust exists on solar aspects. Cold, dry snow may still be found on north aspects in the alpine.Wind slabs exist in alpine areas and may overlie buried surface hoar. Professionals continue to monitor a couple of persistent weak layers in the upper 50-150 cm of the snowpack. Minimal overnight re-freezes and daytime warming will keep the chance of triggering a deeper slab lingering into Tuesday. Persistent weak layers are most likely to be triggered from thin, rocky areas with a variable snowpack or with a large load, like cornice fall.