Danger could INCREASE TO CONSIDERABLE with intense radiation on south and west aspects. Be aware of how the warm weather is changing the snowpack.
Summary
Confidence
Good
Weather Forecast
Friday: Spring continues! Expect mostly clear skies and warm temperatures. Winds should be light northerly with alpine temperatures reaching 5.Saturday/Sunday: The high pressure system persists with more warm, clear and calm weather. Winds remain light northerly and temperatures climb a few degrees warmer each afternoon. Freezing levels could peak at 2700m in the afternoons and it is possible that Saturday night will not see a refreeze.
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 2000m on all aspects and well into the alpine on south and west facing terrain. These crusts break down with daytime warming and the surface snow can lose cohesion as a result. The odd lingering windslab remains reactive on high, north facing slopes, but these have largely broken down due to near surface facetting from cool overnight temperatures. Cornices are huge! Various melt-freeze crusts are buried in the upper snowpack. In general, the bond at these interfaces is good. A layer of surface hoar (buried on March 11; now down about 90 cm) is still being observed in some locations, with hard results in snowpack tests. Mid and lower snowpack layers are well bonded.
