Daytime and nightime temperatures are staying cooler. Winds have been variable directions so assess for reverse loading patterns on a buried smooth temperature crust. Tuesday's forecasted sun may briefly increase danger rating in the afternoon.
Weather Forecast
Sunday evening freezing level will be valley bottom rising to 1300m on Monday and light East winds. Expect a good freeze Monday night. Tuesday will be sunny, light Westerlies, with rising afternoon freezing level. Tuesday night will have less overnight freeze, 100km/hr Westerlies at 3000m, and moderate precipitation into Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
Melt freeze crust below treeline provides stability above a wet and unconsolidated snowpack. Watch for daytime heating breaking the crust down and increasing the danger. Alpine cornices are large and looming. The snowpack is supportive above treeline with a light dusting of snow over a temperature crust particularly on South aspects.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported on Sunday. On Friday, several loose avalanches were observed from steep rock cliffs. Steep, Southerly aspects below 1600m are mostly melted out.
Confidence
The weather pattern is stable on Monday
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.