Friday is expected to remain cool, however, pay attention to solar aspects. If the sun comes out, it won't take much radiation for the new snow to start sloughing off on the crusts. It is always a good idea to start and end your tours early at this time of year.
Recent snow and wind have created thin windslabs in isolated pockets at higher elevations along with some potential for loose snow avalanches in steep terrain. These are small avalanches but they could knock you off your feet. Expect this problem to become more active when the sun comes out.
The current cool temperatures have temporarily slowed down the deeper avalanche activity.
In the alpine several thin, fresh windslabs and sluffs were triggered in the new snow (sitting on a temperature crust) over the past few days.
5-15 cm of recent snow overlies previous temperature crusts on E, W and S aspects. On north aspects above 2200 m the storm snow overlays dry snow. Small wind slabs can be expected in specific areas in the alpine and will react easily to human triggers where on a smooth crust.
In the mid-pack, the Feb 3 persistent layer (crust/facet layer) remains a concern on northerly alpine aspects, however, cooler temperatures have slowed down natural activity on this layer.
Friday- Light winds and generally clear skies across the range. Freezing levels (FL) will pop into the alpine bringing daytime highs in the valley between 5 and 10 Celsius.
Saturday - Expect light winds & clear skies across the range. FL will rise to around 2000 m and valley temperatures will reach positive single digits.
Sunday will be a stormy day with up to 20 cm of wet snow up high, rain in the valley, & strong SW wind.
