Ohau

A change is in the cards. New snow up high inbound, more rain at lower elevations.

Any new snow will be landing on a very firm surface, so we will need to treat the new/old bond with caution and plan our route accordingly.

Nothing reported since the middle of the month.

Please use the Public Observations link if you see anything interesting.

Approximately 15–20 cm of new snow fell above 1850 m between 13–14 July, accompanied by severe NW winds that later shifted to the SW. In exposed terrain, the strong winds stripped the new snow back to the ground or to slick rain crusts.

Wind loading created pockets of dense wind slab on east through south aspects in isolated pockets, but can be 30-40cm thick. They so far haven't been reactive to tests.

Below 1850 m, precipitation fell as rain, forming a widespread rain crust on all aspects.

Expect 10-15cm new snow on top of this firm layer on Thursday.

Showers about the divide. Turning to rain for a time in the evening with snow lowering to 1600 metres. A mixture of rain and snow, depending on the altitude you're at. Otherwise mostly cloudy.

Moderate north westerlies rising to Gale and a freezing level rising to around 2600m

Firm snow conditions are present on west-facing slopes near ridgelines and at lower elevations where a rain crust exists. These hard surfaces may present a sliding hazard, particularly on steep terrain.

This forecaster wore crampons for the whole decent of Mt Sutton to the ski area (a popular off piste ski run) on Sunday, and was very happy to have them.

High

• The snowpack structure is well understood.
• We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast.
• We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase with the forecast weather.