A very light overnight refreeze and sunny skies this morning mean we will again have to pay attention to signs of wet snow instability. Although I suspect the cycle has largely played out, loose wet avalanches are possible on all aspects and elevations with the exception of high elevation northerlies. Signs of instability include rollerballs, pinwheels, and sloppy wet snow. Stay off of and out from under steep slopes when these signs are present.

Although harder to predict, wet slab avalanches are also possible. On south through westerly aspects, melt water can pool on buried crusts and faceted layers nearer to the surface increasing the likelihood for wet slab avalanches. There is a higher degree of uncertainty regarding the faceted weak layers on northerlies. Faceted snow packs can be somewhat unpredictable during rapid warming events. The conservative choice is to let the heat wave play out and wait for a solid refreeze.

Warm temperatures and percolating melt water are working to consolidate and strengthen the snowpack but it's still very much in transition. The likelihood for triggering an avalanche on a PWL has decreased significantly, particularly on west, and on lower elevation northerly aspects but I'd really like to see a few nights with a solid refreeze before I let it go. Layers of cold, dry faceted snow still remain on steep, northerly aspects near treeline, and in some areas above. Likely trigger points are steep convexities, thin slab margins, and shallow rocky areas. If you are biting off pieces of avalanche terrain, choose smooth planar slopes with clean run-out zones.