Hazard levels can change very quickly to high today. If the sun comes out stronger than expected and the solid crust you've been traveling on starts to get soft and moist, you may want to change your route if it goes through exposed terrain.
Weather Forecast
Today a mix of sun and cloud with light to moderate winds out of the SW. Precip will be nil. Freezing level around 2200m. Tonight a weak low pressure system moves in bringing trace amounts of precip for the next two days with freezing levels around 1400m. Wednesday may see some sunny breaks.
Snowpack Summary
Spring melt freeze conditions are causing the surface to be very solid in the morning on areas that were exposed to strong solar and warming. The crusts yesterday seemed to be breaking down later in the afternoon. A variety of crusts exist in the top meter of the snowpack. Deeper in the snowpack there exists persistent layers that remain a concern.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday the temperatures stayed fairly cool in the alpine, despite the strong presence of the sun. Combined with light wind, this kept the surface crusts not breaking down until later in the afternoon. A small cycle of loose moist avalanches to size 2.0 started around14:00 and there are likely some from yesterday that we have not observed yet.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Problems
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.
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.
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.