Watch for reactive surface layers. Plan your day around being finished before daytime warming increases the avalanche danger.
Weather Forecast
Snow mixed with rain at lower elevations as daytime warming pushes freezing levels up. Alpine temperatures should stay just below freezing and winds in the light range with occasional gusts to moderate. Tonight another pulse of storm should bring an additional 15cm. Snowfall should slow to flurries on Tuesday.
Snowpack Summary
Yesterday's field trip found moist storm snow up to our high point at 2100m. Ski cuts on steep rolls produced sluggish, heavy surface slab with little propagation propensity. Below 1400m the surface layer was rain soaked. The sun rapidly effected surface layers yesterday afternoon. Overnight storm snow will be insulating underlying moist snow.
Avalanche Summary
Solar input and daytime warming yesterday afternoon initiated a widespread loose wet snow avalanche cycle to size 2.5 up into the alpine on solar aspects and all aspects below treeline. These were mainly loose point release slides with the occasional thin slab release confined to the recent storm snow. Glide cracks are releasing, avoid exposure.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain
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.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.