A major warming on Wed and Thurs will likely trigger a significant spring avalanche cycle. Avoid avalanche terrain.
Weather Forecast
Warm and mostly sunny conditions are expected for the next two days, before another wave of precipitation arrive on Friday. Freezing levels will reach 3300m on Wednesday and 3600m on Thursday with little to no overnight recovery.
Avalanche Summary
Several loose wet slides up to size 2.0 were triggered today by solar radiation on East, South and West aspects.
Snowpack Summary
Moist snow is found on all aspects and at all elevations except true North aspects above 2400m. The snowpack is turning isothermal at lower elevations. Isolated thin wind slabs are found at ridge crest in immediate lee slopes, but these have been unreactive to ski cutting. The basal facets and deoth hoar are reactive during times of intense solar radiation and/or warm daytime temperatures. Some recent avalanches have failed on the ground. Where cornices exist they are large and sagging.
Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.
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.