20-35 cm of new snow fell with strong SW winds as a cold front passed through Monday resulting in increased avalanche hazard. Moderate terrain choices with limited overhead hazard are recommended until the storm snow settles and bonds.
Areas with 15+ cm of fresh snow will have a storm slab problem. The new snow may fail naturally and will be reactive to human triggering especially over buried sun crusts. Lee areas with newly formed wind slabs and fresh cornices are also a concern.
The November basal facets and depth hoar have been mainly dormant in this region and we have seen few avalanches on this layer. Watch for thin snowpack spots or places exposed to large loads like cornices where triggering this is more likely.
Areas around Yoho and Lake Louise got 30-45 cm of new snow and saw natural avlanche activity out of steep terrain up to size 2 in the storm snow, as well as ski cutting and explosive results at the ski hill. Some wind slab failures in steep lee loaded terrain also occurred.
20-35 cm of storm snow arrived with strong SW winds on Monday. The storm snow sits over buried sun crusts that are present to ridge crests, and faceted layers on shady aspects. Multiple buried crusts are present in the top 50-70 cm on solar aspects. The basal depth hoar is present but is only a concern in thin areas. Low elevations have a temperature crust on all aspects.
Winds will decrease as they switch from moderate SW to light SE on Tuesday. Freezing levels will drop to valley bottom with alpine lows reaching -15°C Monday night, and rising to 1800 m on Tuesday afternoon with alpine temperatures near freezing. No significant precip is expected Tuesday but some convective showers may occur further east.
