Forecast light snow in the alpine is expected to continue to develop windslabs.
Weather Forecast
Cloud developing overnight with freezing levels dropping down to about 1200 metres. Light precipitation starting in the early morning combined with moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing levels rising up to about 2100 metres during the day. Light precipitation overnight and Thursday morning resulting in 3-5 cm of new snow above about 1700 metres. Friday is expected to be very warm with clearing skies as the high pressure ridge re-builds.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
Roughly 5-10 cm of recent snow adds to the variable amounts of dry facetted snow on top of the mid-February crust with associated buried surface hoar in sheltered areas, or, more recent melt-freeze crusts on sun-exposed slopes. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer can be found about a metre below the surface in deeper snowpack areas. The mid-January surface hoar, can be found below that. These layers have gained significant strength, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased dramatically.
Problems
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.