Incoming snow should improve the skiing and is not expected to increase the hazard level until Friday. Exercise extra caution if forecast snowfall amounts are exceeded.
Weather Forecast
Thursday will bring cloud cover and more seasonable temperatures with light flurries of 5-10cm and moderate to strong gusting northerly winds as the trough replaces our high pressure sunshine. Late Saturday is forecast to deliver an additional 15-20cm of snow with continued seasonal temperatures and light winds.
Snowpack Summary
Cooler temperatures and cloud cover will allow continued sintering and settlement of the upper snowpack. Few persistent weaknesses are active in the snowpack. Forecast snowfall with moderate winds should create new windslabs on lee features.
Avalanche Summary
Cooler temps and cloud cover will shut down the current solar-triggered avalanche cycle and new avalanches will require new snow or very large triggers. This past week, avalanches initiating near and below treeline were primarily loose/wet to sz 2.5, but some alpine slopes had also released as slabs to midpack.
Confidence
Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.