A surging Arctic front should deliver light snow and moderate winds, which will elevate the avalanche danger slightly.
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday
Weather Forecast
Monday: Mainly cloudy with light snow – 5-10 cm possible. The freezing level is at valley bottom. Ridge winds are moderate from the northeast. Tuesday and Wednesday: Mainly sunny and a few degrees cooler (lows close to -20 and highs near -10). Winds are generally light from the W-NW.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported recently but observations are limited.
Snowpack Summary
A few centimetres of new snow sits on the previous snow surface, which was a mix of surface hoar, crusts, wind affected surfaces, or dry powder. The most prominent snowpack features is a thick supportive crust around 10-30 cm below the surface. It extends up to around 2200m. Below this elevation the crust is effectively capping the snowpack, preventing riders from tickling deeper persistent weak layers. In alpine areas, where the crust is not present or is less thick, it could still be possible to trigger a deep avalanche from sparsely covered rocky slopes or with a heavy load (i.e. cornice fall).
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.