Mt. Dennis, Mount Bourgeau and Eagle Mountain avalanche closure zones are CLOSED on Thursday, December, 18th.
More snow will add mass to the slab sitting on top of the mid-pack Nov 22 facet/crust layer and the deeper Nov 13 facet/crust layer. While the likelihood will slowly decrease, particularly below treeline, we still expect to see large avalanches occur on these layers for the next couple of days.
With continued strong W/SW winds and snowfall we expect to see dry loose avalanches in steep terrain, especially in couloirs and gullies. Best to avoid this type of terrain until the conditions improve.
Ongoing precipitation continues to build storm slabs, while strong SW winds continue to actively redistribute snow into wind slabs in lee terrain at higher elevations. These slabs will remain reactive for the next few days.
Avalanche activity continues with two large naturals reported to us today in Kootenay and Yoho. Both were size 3+ and ran to valley bottom.
Sunshine patrol also triggered a size 2.5 with explosives at treeline that ran on a November crust layer and Lake Louise had a couple size 2's in closed areas that failed from rapid wind loading during the day.
With the continued snow and wind over the past week, there is now a 50-100 cm+ slab overlying the November crust /facet layers. These layers have been active this week with avalanches up to size 3.5, occasionally scrubbing to ground.
Below 2100m, a new crust is now forming below the recent snow as the temperatures cool from the weekend warmup.
Treeline snowpack depths range from 100-180 cm!!
A persistent westerly flow continues to bring precipitation to the range. Expect a small reprieve overnight Wednesday followed by 10-15 cm starting Thursday afternoon. Skies will dry up throughout the day on Friday but we can still expect small flurries and another ~ 5 cm on Saturday. Temps will be -5 to -10 at treeline with consistent moderate to strong west and southwest winds throughout the period.
