One more day of warm sunny weather before cool cloudy weather arrives. Avoid sun-exposed slopes on Wednesday.
Cornices are large and fragile when exposed to the sun. Cornice falls are dangerous on their own and can possibly trigger avalanches on slopes below.
Expect wet loose avalanches to run naturally when steep slopes are exposed to the sun. Activity will start on east-facing slopes in the morning, south-facing slopes throughout the day, and possibly continuing on west-facing slopes into the evening.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Clear skies, light northwest wind, freezing level drops to 1500 m with treeline temperatures dropping to -2 C.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny with some clouds in the afternoon, light northwest wind with some moderate gusts in the afternoon, freezing level climbs to 2300 m with treeline temperatures reaching +2 C.
THURSDAY: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing up to 5 cm of snow, light north wind, freezing level drops to 1000 m with treeline temperatures dropping to -5 C.
FRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud with some isolated flurries, light wind, freezing level climbs to 1800 m with treeline temperatures reaching -1 C.
Avalanche activity has quieted down since temperatures cooled on Sunday. On Saturday there were widespread wet loose and wet slab avalanches on sun-exposed slopes. The wet loose avalanches were mostly size 1-2, but some of the wet slab avalanches were quite large and destructive (size 2.5-3.5). The large wet slabs were mostly on south and west facing slopes.
You can still expect wet loose avalanches and cornice falls on Wednesday, but they will be less widespread and destructive than they were over the weekend due to the relatively cooler temperatures and thicker surface crusts.
A surface crust will form overnight and then gradually break down with daytime warming. Dry snow may still be found in high north-facing terrain (above roughly 2300 m). There are no layers of concern in the snowpack, which has been melting and settling over the past week. Large cornices loom along many ridgelines.
