Purcells

If you've been out recently and have observations, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

An approaching winter storm looks like it will hit this region on Sunday.Friday and Saturday: Flurries. Moderate westerly winds at ridgetop. Freezing level around 900 m.Sunday: 5 to 10 cm with low confidence. It's quite possible that twice this amount could fall. Expect strong SW ridgetop winds and freezing level around 500 m.

No recent avalanche activity has been reported.

Snowpack depths at treeline are approximately 70-100 cm. Alpine conditions are highly variable due to earlier redistribution of snow by strong winds. Probably the most important layer we've heard about in this region is a crust near the base of the snowpack that has sugary facets associated with it. In mid November, several large avalanches were reported on this weakness. A recent snowpack test in the backcountry near Kicking Horse on a NW aspect gave moderate but "sudden" results, indicating this layer is likely still trigerable. While this layer is probably slowly gaining strength, bear in mind facets take a long time and a lot of snowpack load to properly heal. The most likely place you'd trigger this layer is on smooth, planar, north facing slopes, especially if the snowpack is unusually shallow in that area.Recent temperature fluctuations, with little or no snow in the past week, mean you'll likely encounter a variety of snow surfaces, such as crusts, old wind slabs and shimmering surface hoar.