Not a lot of change with the snow despite the warmer weather. Loose surface snow, sluffing and variable wind slab in the alpine are the on the radar as concerns.
Weather Forecast
The warming trend will continue through tonight and into tomorrow. Overnight lows will be -2 at 2200m. Tomorrow it will hit 0° at 1600m with a mix of sun and cloud. No snow and only light winds are expected.
Avalanche Summary
A few loose dry avalanches may have come down in the last 24 hours, but it is hard to say exactly how old these are. Regardless, most of them were small and in steep alpine terrain. Some minor pinwheeling was noted today.
Snowpack Summary
Surface hoar growth continues with the cold, clear and calm weather. It is not clear yet how widespread this latest surface hoar is. The snowpack has lost a lot of its strength through facetting, especially near the surface. So far none of the crusts or storm interface from last week have woken up, and appear to be hanging in there for the time being. Having said that, it does feel like the the deeper layers could wake up with even a slight change in conditions.
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.
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.