Conditions will remain spring-like over the weekend.
Confidence
Good - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
A ridge will build over the weekend signaling an end to the wetness although freezing levels are forecast to remain high (1500m) throughout the forecast period. Rain will continue overnight Friday into early Saturday with up to 10mm expected accompanied by moderate westerly winds. Isolated showers with sunny breaks are expected for Sunday with light northwesterly winds. The region should be mainly dry and sunny by Monday with light northerly winds.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity appears to have tapered off for now although small lose wet avalanches have been reported in steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
In the south of the region, rain has saturated the snowpack to ridgeline. Upper elevations in the North of the region may have received between 5 and 10 cm of new moist snow while rain fell below 2000m. The supportive rain crust from earlier in February can be found down about 50cm in the South. Further north it is buried closer to 1m down. The snow is moist below 2000m and a breakable melt-freeze curst can be encountered from 1400m to up to about 1900m. Reports suggest that stumps and creeks are exposed at lower elevations.
Problems
Wet Slabs
Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.
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.