While conditions are gradually improving with cooling temperatures, very large persistent slab avalanches may remain triggerable in areas not capped by a thick surface crust.
A crust with weak facets above is buried 80 to 200 cm deep. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the most likely places to trigger this layer.
If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers, resulting in very large avalanches.
A natural avalanche cycle that continued into Tuesday saw numerous loose wet avalanches up to size 3 (very large) as well as cornice failures up to size 2, on sunny aspects at all elevations.
A skiff of new snow now sits over predominantly crusty surfaces. Dry snow may be found on high north aspects in the alpine, and moist surfaces may persist at low elevations.
A weak layer of surface hoar is buried 40-60 cm deep in isolated, sheltered areas. A widespread crust with sugary facets above is buried 80-200 cm deep. Both of these layers remain primary concerns for triggering large persistent slab avalanches.
Wednesday night
Increasing cloud, flurries starting, up to 5 cm. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
Thursday
Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries, up to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Friday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.
Saturday
Cloudy with isolated flurries, around 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
