We could see rain to the summits on Friday followed by drier and cooler conditions on the weekend. Certainly not ideal for snow quality!
Weather Forecast
Friday: Cloudy with periods of rain 10-15 mm. The freezing level is around 2500-2700 m. Ridge winds are moderate from the southwest. Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level is around 1700-2000 m. Ridge winds are light gusting to moderate. Sunday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level is around 1600-1800 m. Winds remain light but gusty.
Avalanche Summary
Avalanche activity appears to have tapered off for now although small lose wet avalanches have been reported in steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
It's definitely not your typical early February coastal snowpack. At upper elevations continued warm temperatures are encouraging the settlement of recent storm snow. The supportive crust that formed up to 2100m in February can now be found down about 70 to 100cm in the alpine. Snow pack tests on both the mid-storm instabilities and the crust are showing that these layers are gaining strengthen. Moist snow has been reported bellow 2200m and a slush on crust setup makes for difficult riding conditions below treeline. Cornices are reported to be looming threateningly at ridgeline.
Problems
Wet Slabs
Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.
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.