Avalanche danger rose over the weekend in alpine areas, as 15-25 cm of storm snow was blown into windslabs by SW winds with gusts reaching 100 km/hr. Ice climbers and others seeking the deepest snow in gully areas could be surprised by a wind slab or a sluff. This condition may improve with stable weather on Monday and Tuesday.
There is enough snow in wind-loaded alpine and high treeline features to create avalanches, and human triggering is possible. While we expect these slides to be limited in size, getting avalanched in a shallow snowpack can easily result in an injury, so use caution in steep terrain.
Minimal information is available right now, but we expect sluffing in steep gullies (ie, ice climbs) and windslabs isolated to leeward slopes and gully features where the snow has accumulated.
Weekend storm totals of 25-30 cm of new snow on the continental divide areas, with total snowpack depths of 40-60 cm. Strong winds through the storm have created windslabs in alpine areas that are probably easily triggered but will stabilize through the week with the cool temperatures. One report from a field team at Bow Summit described the snowpack as very shallow but supportive for travelling.
The storm that crossed the region over the weekend is exiting by late Sunday, followed by a few days of cool temps, light winds, and just a few flurries. Mon and Tues both show a mix of sun & clouds with overnight lows to -10 and daytime highs near the freezing mark. Winds will mostly be light to moderate.
Banff National Park forecast
Yoho National Park forecast
Kootenay National Park forecast
Western Canada weather maps
