Danger could INCREASE TO CONSIDERABLE with intense radiation on south and west aspects, especially at treeline and below. Be aware of how the warm weather is changing the snowpack.
Weather Forecast
Saturday/Sunday: The high pressure system digs deeper! Winds remain light under clear, sunny skies. Alpine temperatures climb to near double digits for Sunday afternoon with freezing levels reaching 3000m. It is possible that there will not be a refreeze at treeline and below on Sunday night.Monday: The ridge should begin to break down. Skies will remain clear, light southwesterly winds should begin to blow and alpine temperatures will climb to just above freezing.
Avalanche Summary
Loose wet sluffs up to size 2.0 have been reported on south and west aspects. Isolated large cornice falls have also been reported; none of these recent cornice events have pulled slabs on the slopes below.
Snowpack Summary
Recent warm temperatures have created melt freeze crusts up to 2200m on all aspects and to ridgecrest on south and west facing terrain. These crusts break down with daytime warming and the surface snow can lose cohesion as a result. Isothermal conditions as deep as 100cm at treeline on south aspects have been reported. Cornices are huge!Mid and lower snowpack layers are well bonded.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.