This is our first big warmup - the hazard will be Low in the morning and rise to Considerable on solar aspects. Northern aspects will stay at a lower hazard. Cornices overhead may start to fail, and could potentially trigger deeper layers.
Weather Forecast
Our first major warming trend will occur over the next several days. Expect sunny skies and temperatures to get incrementally warmer with each day, peaking on Tuesday/Wednesday. For Saturday, expect treeline highs to be around -3C, winds light from the SW and freezing levels to be around 1600 m.
Snowpack Summary
Very little wind effect overall except in the high alpine. Sun crust on steep solar aspects is forming. Generally, 10-20 cm of snow sits over a firm mid-pack. The Jan surface hoar layers down 100-150 cm are inactive in tests. In shallow areas the deeper facet layers are currently dormant, but could become active with the warm days ahead.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported in Little Yoho, but suspect there may have been some loose wet avalanches at lower elevations from steep solar rocky terrain with prolonged sun affect.
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.
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.