Pay close attention to how the new snow is bonding to the old snow surfaces, and be extra vigilant for pockets of wind slab. Avalanche danger will increase rapidly on sunny slopes, if the sun makes an appearance on Tuesday.
Confidence
Low - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
We're in between storm systems for the next two days. More snow (up to 10cm) on Thursday. TUESDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and scattered flurries. Moderate westerly winds. Alpine temperature +2 C. Freezing level 1700 m.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and scattered flurries. Light to moderate westerly winds. Alpine temperature +3 C. Freezing level 1900 m.THURSDAY: Snow (5-10 cm). Moderate southerly winds. Alpine temperature +3 C. Freezing level 2000 m.
Avalanche Summary
Many dry loose avalanches to size 1.5 were reported on all alpine aspects on Monday.
Snowpack Summary
14-24 cm of low density snow fell Sunday overnight into Monday. This new snow sits on a wide variety of old surfaces: a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects, some old wind slabs in the alpine near ridge crests and predominantly dry snow or surface hoar (up to 20mm in size) on north aspects above 1500-1800m.A weak layer of surface hoar buried mid-February exists in parts of the region around 50 to 80 cm deep. The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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 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.