Some precipitation is expected overnight. If more snow falls than anticipated, monitor how the snowpack adjusts to the new load. Also, keep the deep slab at the forefront of your mind as the problem will only go away when the snow is gone.
5cm can be expected to fall as snow in the alpine and upper tree line overnight Sunday with SW winds. Pay attention to recent accumulations that overlie crusts. Wind will contribute to slab development in lee alpine areas.
With freezing levels rising and small amounts of rain forecast on Sunday evening, expect heating to create moist snow at lower elevations.
The weak basal facets and mid-pack facets/crusts remain a concern, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Avoid steep terrain especially in shallow snowpack areas where triggering is more likely.
A size 3 skier-triggered avalanche occurred on Saturday afternoon size 3 skier-triggered avalanche occurred in a closed area within the Lake Louise ski resort. Two people were caught. One was partially buried and survived. One was fully buried and did not survive. The avalanche was reported to be 200 m wide and 550 m long with a crown depth of 40-50 cm.
Almost daily accumulations of new snow are competing with new sun crust formation on solar aspects with multiple buried crusts present in the upper snowpack. On northerly aspects, up to 40cm of recent snow remains preserved with buried temperature crusts as high 2200m. The basal snowpack remains weak with facets and depth hoar.
About 5cm of snow is expected overnight, Freezing levels will be about 2100m so expect this in the form of rain at the valley bottom. Wind should be light to moderate from the SW.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
