Expect slowly improving conditions over the next few days.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Temperatures should start to fall on Friday and stay cooler through the weekend, with a freezing level around 900 m. 20-30 cm of snow is expected overnight Thursday/Friday, with a gradually lowering snow line. Winds become light for the weekend.
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Tuesday and Wednesday include numerous natural and explosives-triggered storm slab avalanches up to Size 2 at treeline and alpine elevations. Some of these stepped down deeper than 40 cm and propagated widely.
Snowpack Summary
Fluctuating freezing levels and heavy precipitation have generally resulted in rain-soaked snow that may form a hard crust extending as high as alpine elevations. Up to 40cm of fresh snow may be sitting atop this interface by Friday. If all goes well, we may experience a relatively quick healing process to take place within the storm snow, due to the forecast transition from wet and sticky to cooler, drier snow. However, you'll need to make your own (careful) observations to test this theory. In the high alpine, deep wind slabs and fragile cornices are likely to exist. Deeper snowpack weaknesses (e.g. crusts and facets) may be preserved at treeline and alpine elevations.
Problems
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.