Avalanche danger will increase through the day based on how intense the sun will be and the warming temperatures. Consider starting and ending your trips earlier in the day.
Weather Forecast
No snow is expected in the next few days. There will be colder temperatures overnight and then steady daytime warming with the sunny days. By the weekend, daytime temperatures may reach the double digits. Winds will remain light from the Southwest to Northwest.
Snowpack Summary
A variable thick slab exists in alpine and treeline locations on a variety of aspects. It is over a strong midpack except in shallow locations where you could trigger basal facets or depth hoar weakness at the ground. Steeper South facing terrain has a suncrust 80cm down. Strong diurnal temperature fluctuations have helped stability.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed in the Portal and Whistler creek areas today.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Wednesday
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.