Snow quality should be slightly improved, but be wary of touchy thin wind slabs and loose snow sluffing in steep exposed terrain.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
A very persistent ridge of high pressure will maintain dry and mainly sunny conditions for… a long time (at least a week, but probably longer). Temperatures should slowly rise with a freezing level near 1200-1400 m on Wednesday, 1500-1600 m on Thursday, and around 2000 m heading into the weekend. Ridge winds should be light or moderate from the NW-SW.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported recently but observations are limited.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 10 cm of new snow sits on the previous snow surface, which was a mix of surface hoar, crusts, wind affected surfaces, or dry powder. Periods of moderate northerly winds have produced pockets of wind slab in exposed lee terrain. The most prominent snowpack features is a thick supportive crust around 10-30 cm below the surface. It extends up to around 2200m. Below this elevation the crust is effectively capping the snowpack, preventing riders from tickling deeper persistent weak layers. In alpine areas, where the crust is not present or is less thick, it could still be possible to trigger a deep avalanche from sparsely covered rocky slopes or with a heavy load (i.e. cornice fall).
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.