Intense solar warming on alpine slopes may not be obvious if you're trapped within the valley cloud. Be aware of terrain above you.
Confidence
Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Saturday
Weather Forecast
The ridge of high pressure will continue to bring mainly clear skies, valley cloud and dry conditions for Saturday and Sunday morning. By late Sunday and into Monday there may be some increased upper level cloud, but no significant precipitation is expected. An inversion with above freezing alpine temperatures should persist until Sunday morning with more seasonal temperatures developing by Monday. Winds are forecast to be light and northerly.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Light amounts of new snow overlie a variety of surfaces which include old, stubborn wind slabs in exposed terrain or well developed surface hoar in sheltered areas. Sun-exposed slopes are seeing a daily melt-freeze cycle. The main concern in the region appears to be weak buried facet crystals. The facet layer, which exists in the mid or lower snowpack (depending where you are in the region), was responsible for some serious close calls last week. Although activity at this interface has tapered-off, this persistent problem has potential to re-awaken with warming forecast for the next few days. Other possible triggers for this layer include cornice fall, or a heavy load over a thin spot.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.