Strong forecast winds and some light amounts of new snow could create fresh wind slabs in the alpine.
Confidence
Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable
Weather Forecast
Monday Night: Only trace amounts of new snow expected overnight.Tuesday: 2-4 cm new snow expected with moderate southwesterly winds. Freezing level rising to around 600 m at the end of the day. A further 10-20 cm possible Tuesday night. Wednesday: Flurries. Moderate northwesterly winds. Freezing level around 1200 m.Thursday: Florries. Strong southwesterly winds. Freezing level rising to around 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported in the region. Small wind slabs have been reported in neighboring regions.
Snowpack Summary
Early season conditions prevail in this region with roughly 30-90 cm of snow in alpine areas and much less at lower elevations. Surface conditions may range from soft power, hard wind slab, and some sun crusts. Isolated pockets of stiff wind slab likely exist on leeward slopes. The bottom half of the snowpack is composed of weak facets and crusts. This layer has not been active, but terrain features like smooth alpine bowls with variable snowpack depths are still suspect given this snowpack structure.
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.