The lack of nightly refreezing, mild temperatures and the rain forecast for Tuesday morning may destabilize the surface snow and possibly the cornices formed this winter.
If you see a wet or damp surface, snowballs, or natural avalanches on the mountain, remember that these are all indicators that the snowpack is destabilizing.
With the mild temperatures and rain, the cornices formed in the alpine could be weakened. Minimize your exposure under the cornices when you travel.
With the lack of nightly refreezing on Monday night and the addition of rain on Tuesday morning, we can expect the surface of the snowpack to lack cohesion. It would therefore be possible for wet snow avalanches to be triggered by the passage of a skier. We could also see natural avalanches on steep slopes. The sun, which could appear at the end of the day, could also continue the process of destabilization of the surface.
No new avalanches have been observed or reported.
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In the alpine, the western and wind exposed slopes have been swept to the crust or hardened snow. On all the slopes, depending on the recent loading and the exposure to the sun, we can find from 5 to 30 cm of wet snow, even wet. This snow rests directly on a more or less crumbly crust of refreeze. In the places with the most loaded snow from the last winds, where 30 to 50 cm rest on the crust, a layer of dry snow may persist before reaching the crust. The wet snow layer is more important with elevation loss at and below the treeline. The middle and base of the snowpack is well consolidated, and of increasing density, interspersed with several refreezing crusts from the last few weeks.
Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits.
Synopsis: A trough from James Bay brings some liquid precipitation Tuesday morning. Monday night and overnight: Increasing cloudiness after midnight. Wind southwest, 20 to 40 km/h. Low +0.5. Freezing level at 1900 m.Tuesday: Showers in the morning, 1 to 3 mm. Wind southwest, 20 to 40 km/h. High +5. Freezing level at 1400 m.Wednesday: Rain (10-15 mm) changing to snow (5 to 15 cm). Wind north, 40 to 60 km/h. Maximum +4. Freezing level at 400 m.Thursday: Clearing. Wind northwest, 20 to 40 km/h. High +1. Freezing level at 600 m.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine forecast.
