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Weather Forecast
A dry ridge of high pressure will bring mainly clear skies for Tuesday. On Wednesday the ridge will flatten-out allowing for a weak pacific system to bring light snowfall for Wednesday and Thursday. Ridgetop winds are forecast to be light from the northwest on Tuesday, and then become strong and southwesterly with Wednesday's system. Freezing levels will shoot to about 3500m on Tuesday, and then drop to about 1500m on Wednesday and Thursday.
Avalanche Summary
With continued warming, loose wet avalanches and cornice failures will remain the primary concern, particularly on steeper, sun-exposed slopes.
Snowpack Summary
Light amounts of cold, lower density snow overlie a thick hard crust on high, north-facing terrain. Below about 2000m there is no snow on the crust and surface runnels show the effect of recent rain showers. Sun-exposed slopes have become moist, or wet with recent daytime warming and solar radiation, while cornices are reported to be large and potentially fragile. Below the surface crust, the snow is still moist; however, the mid and lower snowpack are generally strong and well-consolidated. Most of the terrain below treeline is below threshold for avalanche activity.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.