Cooler temperatures at higher elevations will lessen risk of cornice failures. Light snowfalls expected over next 24-48 hours with moderate winds may form thin windslabs. Daytime heating at and below treeline will be main concern over the weekend.
Weather Forecast
Freezing levels dropping to 1600m overnight and rising to 2100m on Saturday. Some light snow at higher elevations. Rapid deterioration of crusts expected by late AM Saturday. Overnight lows in the -7 range at 3000m.
Avalanche Summary
A few wet, loose on steep rocky aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Limited obs - overnight lows at treeline dropping just below zero so only thin weak crusts forming which deteriorate by late AM. Several centimeters of new snow in areas close to the divide settling out rapidly through the day with rising temperatures.
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.