Regions
South Coast Inland.
Stick to shady terrain. Wet loose avalanches are most likely on sun-exposed slopes.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
FRIDAY: Sunny with some valley clouds, moderate west wind, freezing level around 3000 m with inversions in the valleys.SATURDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate southwest wind, freezing level around 2700 m with inversions in the valleys.SUNDAY: Clouds clearing in the afternoon, light wind, freezing level rising to 3400 m.
Avalanche Summary
Small wet loose avalanches (size 1) have been reported out of steep south and west facing slopes. More wet loose activity can be expected with sustained warming this week.
Snowpack Summary
Warm temperatures are rapidly settling the snowpack. Expect widespread melting of the surface snow, especially on south-facing slopes. Crusts may form overnight, but will melt quickly in the mornings. Lingering wind slabs may be found in the alpine, but are trending towards being unreactive. The snow has formed a strong bond to the late November rain crust which is now 30-50 cm deep. Treeline snow depths are approximately 1 m throughout the region.
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.