If there's more than 15 cm new snow by Sunday morning, raise alpine and treeline ratings to Considerable.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Sunday: 5-10 cm new snow, mostly affecting the south of the region. Generally light southeasterly winds sometimes gusting to 40 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -5C. Monday: varying amounts of new snow, from 2 cm in dry areas to 20 cm in high snowfall areas in the south of the region. Moderate to strong southeasterly winds gusting to 50 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -5C. Tuesday: Light snow, most likely arriving later on in the day. Mostly light winds during the day, increasing later on. Freezing level rising to 1300 m in the afternoon. Note: the current weather pattern is not well defined by weather models. There is the possibility for significant variations from the above best estimates.
Avalanche Summary
A skier triggered a small hard slab on Wednesday and was knocked off his feet. Glide slabs have been releasing in steep smooth rocky terrain. Otherwise, there has been little recent avalanche activity.
Snowpack Summary
Wind slabs overlie a generally settled snowpack, with no significant weak layers reported in the upper or mid snowpack. Current surfaces include surface hoar, sun crusts and facets. These may provide a weak interface with forecast new snow. Near the base of the snowpack, a crust/facet layer exists which is now unlikely to be triggered, except perhaps by heavy triggers in steep, shallow, rocky terrain where more facetting has taken place.
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.