Danger could INCREASE TO CONSIDERABLE with intense radiation on south and west aspects, especially at treeline and below. Be aware of how the warm weather is changing the snowpack.
Weather Forecast
Monday/Tuesday: High pressure reigns supreme! Expect continuing sunny skies, light winds and temperatures reaching into the double digits.Wednesday: The ridge should begin to break down. Expect clouds to build with the chance of flurries. Afternoon alpine temperatures could still reach 5 with moderate westerly winds.
Avalanche Summary
Small loose wet avalanches up to size 1 were reported.
Snowpack Summary
We are in a classic spring melt freeze cycle. The surface snow becomes moist up to 2200m on all aspect and to ridgecrest on south and west facing slopes. Large cornices are becoming weak due to strong solar radiation and warming temperatures. Surface hoar growth and surface facetting is happening at night on high sheltered, northerly aspects. Isolated wind slabs exist in the immediate lee of ridge crests and terrain featuresA buried rain crust can be found down 50 cm and exists up to around 2100 m. The bonds at the crust has shown variability though the region. It is important to dig down and test weak layers before dropping into your line. A large trigger such as a cornice fall or a skier/sledder hitting the sweet spot could potentially trigger a large avalanche on this layer.
Problems
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.
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.