Spring conditions. Avalanche danger is expected to rise during the day with warming and solar radiation. Plan to retreat to cooler north-facing terrain if the snow surface is becoming moist or wet.
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY: Mainly sunny. The freezing level dips to 1000 m overnight but shoots up to 2300 m in the afternoon. Winds are light and variable. MONDAY: Sunny in the morning with increasing cloud late in the day. The freezing level remains near 2500 m and winds are light. TUESDAY: Cloudy with possible showers or flurries. The freezing level is around 2500 m. Winds could increase to moderate from the SW.
Avalanche Summary
There are very few reports trickling in at this time of year. One observer did report a few size 3 slabs from solar aspects that likely occurred on Thursday or Friday. Loose wet activity to size 2 was also reported. The possibility of wet slabs and cornice falls will increase if the snowpack does not refreeze overnight and temperatures remain high.
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. A moist/wet, isothermal, and rapidly melting snowpack exists on all aspects below around 1500 m and probably even higher on solar aspects. The strength (thickness) of the surface crust and how quickly it breaks down during the day are important factors to focus on. A few lingering persistent weak layers still exist in the upper snowpack (50-130 cm deep). There has been no recent reported activity on any of these layers, but there is potential for wet slabs to release on one of these layers, or near the ground, when it's sunny and hot.
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.
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.