Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
The new snow remains reactive to human triggering especially in the East where the up slope storm dumped the most snow. Watch the weather inputs Saturday as more than 10 cm of new snow could easily increase the danger again.
Weather Forecast
Temperatures Friday should stay below freezing at treeline and alpine elevations while valley bottoms may be just above 0'C. Another 10 cm of snow from an upslope storm is expected on Saturday so again we expect more snow in the East than the West.
Snowpack Summary
20-30 cm of new snow from the past two days has formed a soft slab and is poorly bonded to the melt freeze crust and older snow layers below. Below this the majority of the snowpack is stable and recent tests have not found any weaknesses. Shallow areas are heavily facetted.
Avalanche Summary
The local ski hills reported numerous storm slabs running fast and far on all aspects and at all elevations on Thursday, as well as lots of sluffing in steep terrain. Several new storm slabs were noted in Yoho, Banff and Kootenay on Friday up to size 2 and are a good indication that the problem is still present.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Saturday
Problems
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.