Spring Conditions. Looks like a typical spring day with a mix of conditions. The sun can be very strong at this time of year; conditions may change rapidly if the sun comes out.
Weather Forecast
Mostly cloudy overnight with moderate southwest winds, light precipitation, and freezing levels down to 1000 metres. Mix of sun and cloud on Friday with scattered convective flurries and daytime freezing levels at 2000 metres. A strong ridge develops on Saturday bringing clear skies, light southerly winds and freezing levels up to at least 2200 metres. The ridge gets stronger on Sunday, temperatures and freezing levels sky-rocket to at least 3000 metres.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
The snow surface is currently going through a typical spring melt-freeze cycle on all aspects and at all elevations, except possibly high true-north slopes which could be holding onto cold snow. Forecast new snow and wind are expected to develop new windslabs in the alpine and at treeline. Higher elevations may feel more like winter for another day, and new wind slabs may not bond well to the old hard re-frozen surface.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.