Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

Avalanche activity appears to be tapering since the recent storm. On Saturday a naturally triggered size 3 occurred, likely from solar input, on a southwest slope at treeline. This appeared limited to the recent storm snow.

Several size 2 wind slab avalanches on east and southeast slopes in the alpine were reported on Friday.

Size 3 avalanches were observed during the storm, running on the buried weak layer 100-200 cm deep.

Light snowfall will bury a large surface hoar layer on shaded slopes, and a crust on sun affected slopes. Previous storm accumulations of up to 80 cm were wind-affected by west/southwest winds in exposed areas. Settling storm snow can still be found in sheltered areas but tapers rapidly with elevation to a firm melt freeze crust.

50 to 100 cm deep a layer of surface hoar, facets, or a thin crust exists.

A persistent weak layer of surface hoar and facets overlying a crust is buried 120 to 200 cm deep.

Sunday Night

Clear skies with increasing cloud. 20 to 30 km/h westerly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. A small above-freezing layer sits around 1500 m overnight.

Monday

Cloudy. Up to 10 cm of snow possible for coastal areas, 2 cm expected for Shames. 40 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures start the day at -10 °C and rise to -4 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with no snow. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 10 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Choose low-angled, sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.
• Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.