"CONTINUED HIGH AVALANCHE HAZARD"
Given the continued avalanche activity, warm temperature, strong winds and rain to treeline, it is best to stay out of the backcountry.
Warm temps and extreme winds will continue to overload this layer. Avalanche activity expected, especially at higher elevations.
These cornices present a hazard in themselves if you're near the base of large cliffs. On a bigger scale, they may trigger slabs that could travel quite far. As they grow, limit or even avoid any exposure.
Avalanches initiated in the surface wind slab and/or cornice failures could trigger this deeper instability.
A fair amount of avalanche activity:
Numerous size 2 avalanches were observed in the Buller area
Several size 1 to 2 wet loosse avalanches were observed on the East end of Rundle
A size 3 avalanches was reported on Sunday that hit the Chester Lake
Several size 2 were observed in the Murray Twins
VERY UNSTABLE SNOWPACK: A surface wind slab 25-40cm thick is sitting on top of a softer layer of decomposed particles and is very reactive to field tests. If this layer is triggered, there is a strong likelyhood that it will step down to the Novmeber crust creating large avalanches. The November crust is down 60-120cm and is becoming more reactive with the additional load. Rain soaked snow can be found up to 2000m and moist snow likely to 2200-2300m.
Tuesday will bring 5-15cm of snow with cooling temperatures of -7c in the Alpine. The winds are still forecast to blow at a minimum of 65km/hr. The freezing level is expected to drop down to valley bottom.
Outlook for Wednesday and Thursday is more snow and continued cooling.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
