Fresh snow is expected to continue to accumulate, with strong southwest wind. Storm slabs will likely become deeper and more reactive throughout the day. Conservative terrain selection is recommended.
Wind slabs in motion and cornice falls have recently produced some very large avalanches failing on a crust down around 150 cm. Human triggering of this layer is most likely in steep, rocky slopes with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack.
Fresh snow and moderate southwest winds are expected to form storm slabs throughout the day. These may become more reactive as the day goes on and the new snow piles up.
MONDAY NIGHT - Mainly cloudy with a few flurries, 5 cm / southwest wind 20-50 km/h / alpine low temperature near -5
TUESDAY - Snow, 15-20 cm, with another 20-30 cm possible overnight / southwest wind 40-80 km/h / alpine high temperature near -1 / freezing level 1500 m
WEDNESDAY - Mainly cloudy with a few flurries, 5 cm / southwest wind 60-80 km/h / alpine high temperature near 0 / freezing level 2000 m
THURSDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / west wind 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near -10
Fresh storm slabs are expected to form throughout the day on Tuesday, likely becoming increasingly reactive as the day goes on and the new snow piles up.
On Sunday, there were a few explosives triggered persistent slab avalanches to size 2.5. These were reported to have failed on weak facets above a crust that was buried in early December.
On Saturday, explosive testing near Fernie produced several large persistent slab avalanches up to size 2.5 also failing on the early December persistent weak layer.
A couple of large (size 3) naturally triggered persistent slab avalanches were reported on large alpine features on Thursday. These avalanches were triggered by either smaller wind slab avalanches, or cornice falls. These are continued reminders of the "low probability; high consequence" scenario that persistent slab problems often create.
15-20 cm of snow is expected throughout the day on Tuesday, with moderate southwest winds. Fresh storm slabs will be forming, and will likely become increasingly reactive during the day.
Lingering wind slabs formed by recent snow and wind remain possible to human trigger in isolated areas. Roughly 30-50 cm of snow is settling above a crust that extends up to 1900 m. In isolated areas below treeline, this recent snow may be sitting on a weak layer of surface hoar.
The main feature we are monitoring in the snowpack is a layer of weak faceted snow over a hard melt-freeze crust found around 150 cm down. Recent sporadic, large naturally triggered avalanches have occurred on this layer on large alpine slopes and were triggered by either smaller wind slabs in motion or cornice falls.
