Avalanche hazard will gradually rise over the day and into Tuesday night as new snow and wind form fresh wind slabs at upper elevations.
If you see more than 20 cm by the end of the day, treat avalanche danger as CONSIDERABLE at elevations with wind blowing the snow around.
New snow and strong winds are likely forming fresh wind slabs in leeward terrain features at upper elevations.
Cornices have also been growing. A cornice fall is a large load that can trigger avalanches on the slope below.
A couple of weak layers exist in the mid snowpack, buried 50-80 cm and 90-150 cm below the surface. They are highly variable in form and distribution and have not been associated with avalanche activity in recent days. Incoming snowfall in the forecast for this week will add additional load to these layers and may shed some light on whether they will remain a concern.
Monday night: Flurries, trace, moderate to strong southwest wind, freezing level 600 m.
Tuesday: Snow, 5-15 cm, strong southwest wind, alpine high -4, freezing level 1200 m.
Wednesday: Snow overnight then clearing, 10-20 cm, moderate northwest wind, alpine high -9, freezing level 1200 m.
Thursday: Sunny, light southwest wind, alpine high -7, freezing level 700 m with a weak inversion setting up.
Isolated wind slabs have been occasionally reactive to skier traffic, limited to size 1.
New snow falls on wind affected surfaces at upper elevations, surface hoar in wind sheltered areas and a thin crust on solar aspects. Winds are likely redistributing new snow into wind slabs and growing cornices.
A couple of persistent weak layers exist in the upper to mid snowpack:
Avalanche activity on these layers has dwindled since last week and snowpack tests results have been moderate to hard planar, but still showing some propagation. Incoming snowfall will add additional load to these layers and may shed some light on whether they will remain a concern.
