Recent warm weather and rain have weakened Cornices and it is a good time to give them a wide berth. At alpine elevations shallow Wind Slabs will be possible on Northeast and East slopes. If you are planning to venture onto large, steep slopes at the highest elevations, evaluate the extent of wind blown snow first.
Cornices are massive right now, and several days of warm temperatures and rain have weakened them. I would expect them to be unpredictable and give them a wide berth, really for the remainder of the season.
Relatively small amounts of new snow overnight and early Monday morning may create shallow Wind Slabs on East and Northeast slopes. Near treeline this new snow will be the only snow available for transport and any instabilities will be very shallow. At the highest elevations Wind Slabs could be more significant but I still expect them to be relatively small (D1-D1.5). Evaluate the extent of wind deposited snow before committing to large, steep, alpine slopes. Getting knocked off your feet by a small avalanche can have greater consequences when terrain traps exist.
Avalanche hazard will decrease at most elevations into Monday as colder temperatures minimize the Wet avalanches that we saw today. I had trouble deciding which avalanche character should be my number one problem. Is it the big, dangerous, but easily identifiable Cornice Collapse, or the isolated, shallow, but perhaps surprising Wind Slab?
