Be mindful of solar radiation, even on partly cloudy days.
Weather Forecast
Chance of an upslope storm on Thur evening with warmer temps and winds from the SE. Tonight freezing level to valley bottom. Wednesday cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries. Freezing level: 1800 m. Alpine high -1 C. Ridge wind south: 10-25 km/h. Warmer on Thursday with up to up to 10cm overnight and into Friday.
Snowpack Summary
10-15cm of dense snow with moderate winds this week has created windslabs in lee features treeline and above. These windslabs are reactive on cooler, shaded aspects where they formed on a faceted surface. Loose wet slides are occurring below treeline in the late afternoon (particularly with direct sun) due to an increasingly isothermal snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
Road patrol Tuesday noted loose wet avalanches to size one below treeline. An isolated loose, dry avalanche that ran size 2 was observed from steep terrain at 2400m on a shaded aspect near Parker Ridge and a field team triggered a size 1.5 windslab avalanche on moderate terrain on Mt. Kitchener at 3100m (60m wide, 60m long, 20-40cm deep crown).
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Thursday
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.
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.