Avoid steep sun-exposed slopes during the heat of the day. Don't let your guard down with warm temperatures and sunny skies.
Confidence
Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Change is coming on Tuesday evening and then wet on Wednesday into Thursday. TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with wet snow or rain beginning in the evening / High temperatures to +6 Celsius / Moderate southwesterly winds / Freezing level around 2600 m. WEDNESDAY: Rain (50-80mm) or wet snow / Moderate southerly winds / Freezing level around 2100m. THURSDAY: Wet flurries changing to snow (15-25cm) / Moderate southwesterly winds / Freezing level around 1500 m.
Avalanche Summary
No new observed.
Snowpack Summary
40-80 cm of storm snow fell last week with moderate to strong southerly winds - this formed variable wind slabs on northerly aspects. Inverted temperatures (warmer at higher elevations) made the slab problem worse and created layers that are still giving sudden results down 30, 40, and 60cms in snowpack tests. The new snow has buried a wide variety of old snow surfaces including stiff wind slab or wind affected snow at upper elevations, sun crust on steep southerly slopes, surface hoar (up to 10 mm) in sheltered locations. In sheltered ares where the recent storm snow is overlying surface hoar (weak, feathery crystals), you may see increased reactivity on this layer as the storm snow begins to settle into a more cohesive slab. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled (strong). However, there remain a number of facet and crust layers (down 60-80cm in shallower areas) that are currently dormant but will require monitoring with additional loading (and warming this week), especially in the aforementioned shallower, rocky areas.
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.
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.