A substantial amount of precipitation has fallen, with rain at lower elevations and snow at high elevations. Expect slabs where snow fell and loose, weak snow where rain fell.
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy with early-morning precipitation, accumulation 10 to 20 mm water equivalent, light westerly winds, treeline temperature 1 C, freezing level 1500 m.MONDAY: Mostly cloudy, light southerly winds, treeline temperature 1 C, freezing level 1500 m rising to 2200 m by the late afternoon.TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with afternoon precipitation, accumulation 10 mm, treeline temperature 4 C, freezing level 2600 m dropping to 2000 m.
Avalanche Summary
On Thursday and Friday, it was easy to initiate large wet loose avalanche in steep terrain below treeline. The avalanches were generally slow but ran far.
Snowpack Summary
Around 30 to 80 mm of rain fell on the snowpack up to around treeline between Thursday and Saturday, with precipitation as snow above. In alpine terrain, the snow has created new storm slabs. This snow overlies a thick crust in most areas except for possibly shady aspects in alpine terrain. The snowpack below the crust is generally strong.At treeline and below treeline elevations, a spring snowpack exists. Rain saturated and weakened the upper snowpack. The wet snow may freeze overnight at higher elevations with cool temperatures. The mid and lower snowpack are strong.
Problems
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.
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.