With warm and stable weather in the forecast the Alpine playground is likely to be pretty inviting over the next few days. Watch for increased avalanche activity/instability on solar aspects as the forecast strong temperature inversion kicks in.
Weather Forecast
A strong upper ridge aloft is creating a pattern of stable weather which is forecast to persist in to next week at least. A warm pacific airmass slowly nudging it's way North East will ride up over the present cold air, creating a strong temperature inversion with highs approaching 0 degrees in the Alpine by Thursday afternoon.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm of light new snow has buried windslabs formed by the weekend's Mod-Strong SW winds. Below, old layers of settling storm and wind slab are interspersed with two thin layers of facets and possibly surface hoar which continue to slowly stabilize. This overlies the Dec 9th crust (down 50-90cm), still a concern as a developing weak interface.
Avalanche Summary
A few naturally triggered loose snow avalanches up to size 1.0 have been observed in the past couple of days.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
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.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.