Touchy thin new wind slabs may develop exposed lee terrain on Wednesday if we see more snowfall and/or wind than forecast. If so, watch your exposure to terrain traps below.
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with periods of light snow around 10 cm. The freezing level is at valley bottom. Winds are light to moderate from the W-NW. Thursday: A mix of sun and cloud. Temperatures should cool a few degrees to around -8 at treeline. Winds are light from the north. Friday: A mix of sun and cloud. Treeline temperatures are around -10 during the day and -15 overnight.
Avalanche Summary
A couple natural cornice failures were observed on Sunday. None of these triggered slabs on the slopes below. There were no new reports of slab avalanches on Sunday. The likelihood of triggering slabs is greatly reduced with cooler temperatures and cloud cover.
Snowpack Summary
The recent dry, warm weather has generally consolidated the upper snowpack. As temperatures now begin to cool, stability in the upper snowpack should increase further. Keep in mind that 'Low Hazard' does not mean 'No Hazard' and that residual risk of avalanches still exists. Old, stubborn hard wind slabs may still exist in isolated areas. A basal facet/crust combo (weak sugary snow above and below a crust) near the ground is still a concern in some areas. The depth of this layer makes triggering an avalanche on it unlikely (maybe a heavy load on a thin spot in steep terrain, rapid temperature change, or cornice fall), but the consequences would be large and very destructive.Widespread large surface hoar was reported throughout the region. This layer is now probably buried by a few centimetres of snow. In some places the surface hoar may have been sitting on a crust, it may have only been a sun crust, and it may even have included sugary faceted snow. At any rate, it looks like this layer will be one to keep a close eye on in the coming weeks.