Avalanche danger is expected to increase through the day on Wednesday as skies clear and freezing levels rise rapidly.
Recent snow continues to settle and form cohesive slabs above a layer of surface hoar atop a crust with weak facets beneath. Warming temperatures on Wednesday may further stress this layer, increasing the likelihood of avalanches.
Clearing skies and warming temperatures throughout the day will weaken the upper snowpack and potentially lead to wet loose avalanche activity.
A natural avalanche cycle occurred over the weekend with numerous slab avalanches up to size 2, primarily on north though east aspects at treeline and above. These all appeared to fail on the late January surface hoar/crust/facet layer outlined in the snowpack summary.
Since the natural avalanche cycle, several small (size 1 to 1.5) human-triggered avalanches have been reported on a variety of aspects at treeline and above.
Refrozen and crusty surfaces are likely on steep, south-facing slopes and across most below-treeline terrain on Wednesday morning. The upper snowpack is likely to become moist throughout the day, at all elevations, due to rapidly rising freezing levels.
Approximately 20 to 50 cm of recent snow has buried a widespread melt–freeze crust, which may have surface hoar on top and faceted snow above and/or below.
The mid- and lower snowpack is well-settled, with no significant concerns.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level rising overnight to 2600 m.
Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 3100 m.
Thursday
Mostly sunny. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 3400 m.
Friday
Mostly sunny. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 3200 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
