Arthur's Pass

With snow forecast again tomorrow, the wind slab hazard will continue to stay elevated. Plan conservative lines and to keep out of steeper ground until the new snow settles. Be cautious of runouts in valley bottoms, as avalanches could hit the valley floor in some areas.

Nothing reported in the last few days. If you see anything, please report it in the public observations section of the NZAA website.

Further south, a loose wet cycle has occurred in the Arrowsmiths region after the last storm cycle.

60mm of rain in the last 48hrs has fallen in Arthur's Pass. Initially rain below 1900m, but the freezing level dropped later today with snow to 1300m. Over 60cm of new snow fell above 1900 m, with drifts to over 1m expected; expect some storm shears within the new snow. The lower elevations will have started wet, with new snow expected to have bonded well. All this fell on a generally well-settled snowpack. Limited snow cover below 1700m before the last storm. There have been a couple of storm cycles this season, bringing a base at higher elevation associated with strong winds, leaving a pressed snowpack with no significant layers of concern. At lower elevations (below 2000m) ice crusts exist but bonding to the ice layers has been good.

Rain, falling as snow to 800 metres, then easing to showers in the morning, before clearing to fine in the evening. Winds Northwesterly gale 70 km/h turning to southwesterly 35 km/h in the morning, then dying out in the evening. Freezing level 1200 metres, lowering to 400 metres in the evening.

Conditions are changing; new snow is falling, but with strong winds, so ridges may be stripped back to hard surfaces. Crampons and an ice axe are a good idea for ridge travel.

Moderate

• We are uncertain about forecast snowfall amounts.