Avalanches. Roller Balls. Mosquitoes?

Quick trip in the Middle Fork to assess wet snow hazards.

• The most recent round of loose wet avalanche activity began Wednesday afternoon on both south and north aspects at all elevations. One of these slides ran over ski tracks from earlier that day. South aspects had obviously been through more of a melt-freeze cycle. The snow on northerly slopes was still transitioning to wet and seemed even more unstable - probably the most dangerous aspects at the moment, at least at mid-elevations.
• I easily triggered medium sized roller balls from my skin track and watched some natural rollers tumble down a steep south-facing slope around 11:30. I sank about 5 inches into wet snow with my skis on. Those clues told me it was time to turn around.
• When I looked back up the canyon after my descent, I saw 3 new small wet loose avalanches on the same slope where I had seen the roller balls fall.
• Large cornices are looming over steep northeast facing slopes on Nyack.
• It was cloudy over the Divide, with fewer clouds north and west. Streaming clouds blowing east to west across the Flathead Range meant some slopes were getting full solar input and some were getting only transient sun.
• Calm wind. Temperatures at the nearest weather station showed a high of 34 degrees at 5:00pm yesterday. It was showing 40 degrees by 2:00pm today.
• Snow line is about 4,500 feet on south aspects and 3,800 feet on north aspects. Below that is patchy wet snow and occasional clouds of mosquitoes.