The good news...❄️ winter is back! ❄️
The bad news... storm snow may not bond well with the crust.
Dial back your terrain choices as significant amounts of storm snow are forecast this weekend.
Expect reactive conditions as storm slabs build over a crust. Watch for increased reactivity in wind affected areas where slabs will be deeper.
At low elevations, precipitation may fall as wet snow or rain.
Avalanche activity has mostly tapered off from the warm weather and rain.
Moving forward avalanche activity will become more likely as storm snow accumulates.
Up tp 30 cm of storm snow is expected to accumulate over Saturday. This will fall over moist snow at low elevations, or over a crust at higher elevations.
The middle of the snowpack is generally well bonded in the Lizard and Flathead areas. In the Rockies -there is a layer of sugary facets that are buried 30-50 cm deep and in some places may sit on a crust.
The middle and lower snowpack contains a series of crusts and faceted snow that are more prominent in shallow areas of the Rockies.
Friday Night
Cloudy with possible flurries. Freezing levels remain around 2000 m. Light and variable winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with 20 cm of snow likely in the Lizard Range, and up to 30 cm possible in the Crowsnest Pass. Northeast winds increase over the day to 40-70 km/h. Freezing levels remain around 1600 m with treeline temperatures of -3 °C.
Sunday
Another 10 cm is likely by Saturday morning.
Mainly cloudy with possible flurries. Freezing levels around 1000 m, treeline temperatures of -9 °C. Southwest winds 10-30 km/h.
Monday
A mix of sun and cloud. Freezing levels around 1000 m, treeline temperatures of -9 °C. Southeast winds 10-30 km/h.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
