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A new snowfall is on the way, with continuing high freezing levels - although not as high as the previous 3 days. Danger levels remain the same, but with different problems. 'Forecast fatigue' is real, but don't get complacent, recent avalanche activity shows that dangerous conditions still exist around the area.
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MULTIPLE windslabs seen around the area, some up to size 3 which probably involved deeper layers. Some very large debris fields seen near the valley floor off the Lomisa ridge area.
MULTIPLE Loose wet and windslabs, which also triggered buried weaknesses, were seen around the area on Sunday and Monday. Sizes ranged from 1 to 3 - and a possible size 4 near the road on the Kobi side.
Recent warming has produced a dense, moist and settled snowpack in the alpine and sub-alpine zones, In the high alpine zone, there are some areas of drier snow on shaded aspects above about 2700 m. A surface hoar / surface facets layer which was buried on 05/02 can be found around 60 cm down, which has produced recent ECTP results in tests, and is likely involved in step-downs of avalanches observed over the last week or two. Various hard wind-pressed layers are in the pack in many locations. The depth of snow varies through the forecast area, from less than 100cm in the north of the region (e.g. Sioni valley) to more than 150cm in the west (Lomisa area). A sugary, weak 10-20 cm thick base layer at ground still remains a concern in the high alpine and alpine zones on W, N, and E slopes - but the areas this can be found are 'patchy' (i.e. not everywhere).
Some sun Wednesday morning before snow begins in the afternoon, becoming heavy at night then clearing about midday on Thursday. Strong S, SW and W winds are forecast at high elevation. Freezing level 2200 m on Wednesday, dropping to 950 by Friday morning.
The storm slab problem may become a windslab problem in the high alpine by Thursday. Low visibility and stormy weather will make touring a bad option from Wednesday afternoon.
Glide cracks are appearing and many glide slab avalanches are being seen - do not hang out under areas where there are cracks! They can release any time of the day or night.