Loose Wet
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely
- Size
- 1
The snowpack on E-SE-S-SW aspects has for the most part adjusted to the post storm warming over the past 10 days. E aspects remain somewhat transitional in some areas while melt-freeze conditions have become well established on SE-S-SW aspects. Human triggered loose wet avalanche activity is expected to be more isolated today. This is due to cooler forecast air temperatures and the still relatively lower amounts of incoming solar radiation from the mid February sun.
A decent snow surface refreeze is expected to have occurred last night, still driven mainly by radiational cooling under clear skies as air temperatures in most locations remained above freezing. This snow surface refreeze is expected to remain supportable through the morning hours today. Sometime during the mid day to afternoon hours conditions will become less supportable and loose wet snowpack instability will increase.
Once body weight boot penetration approaches 1 foot deep or more into surface wet snow, change to a more northerly or westerly aspect and/or move to slopes less than 35 degrees in slope angle without steeper terrain above. Planned timing of travel in avalanche terrain is critical for the preferred mix of frozen to melting, but still supportable snow surface conditions.