South Rockies

Minimize exposure to steep slopes as temperatures warm through the day, especially in areas with fresh snow.

Moderate -

TUESDAY NIGHT - Cloudy with clear breaks / light southeast wind / alpine low temperature near 0 / freezing level valley bottomWEDNESDAY - Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 7 cm accumulation / southwest wind, 25 gusting to 45 km/h / alpine high temperature near 0 / freezing level 2000 m THURSDAY - Cloudy with sunny breaks and isolated flurries, trace accumulation / west wind, 15-40 km/h / alpine high temperature near +1 / freezing level 2000 m FRIDAY - Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 10 cm accumulation / light southwest wind, gusting to 55 km/h / alpine high temperature near +1 / freezing level 2100 m

If the sun comes out for prolonged periods of time or as temperatures rise, the chances of loose avalanches will increase, especially in areas with fresh snow.On Monday, small (small 1-1.5) loose-dry and loose-wet avalanches were reported with the accumulated snowfall as well as two small (size 1-1.5) storm slab avalanches triggered with explosives. On Tuesday, snowballing was observed in alpine terrain.

About 5 cm recent snow overlies a thick crust on most aspects and elevations. On north-facing, alpine terrain, up to 20 cm recent snow is bonding well to a cold, dry snowpack. Lower down in the snowpack, the base is composed of weak facets (sugary snow). In areas that remained more sheltered from the heat (like north-alpine), human triggering of persistent slabs on this layer may still be possible; especially in rocky alpine terrain with a shallow or highly variable depth snowpack.The snowpack on sun-exposed slopes in the alpine and all aspects at treeline and below may become moist or wet during the heat of the day, especially if the sun comes out. With spring conditions, the avalanche hazard will fluctuate greatly depending on the strength of the overnight freeze and how quickly the snowpack is warmed up each day.