Avalanche Forecast

General cooling and clearing trend with cold northern air providing good refreezes overnight, but upslope flow will continue to bring spotty cloud cover and bits of snowfall through the forecast period.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, clearing by the morning. 0-2 cm of snow expected, but unstable air could lead to localized heavier snowfall. Light east wind, trending to moderate north at higher elevations. Treeline low around -11 °C.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. No new snow expected. Light variable ridgetop wind, trending to moderate north at higher elevations. Freezing level rising to around 1300 m. Treeline high around -6 °C.

Sunday: Mix of sun and cloud. 0-3 cm of snow expected overnight, and a possible trace through the day. Light variable ridgetop wind, trending to moderate north at higher elevations. Treeline high around -5 °C.

Monday: Partly cloudy. Possible trace of snow expected. Light to moderate west ridgetop wind, trending to strong northwest at higher elevations. Freezing level rising to around 1300 m. Treeline higher around -3 °C.

On Friday, numerous natural, rider triggered, and explosive triggered dry loose avalanches up to size 1.5 were reported in the new storm snow.

On Thursday, small, loose dry avalanches were reported in the recent storm snow. Also, south of Crowsnest Pass, one size 2 explosive controlled avalanche was reported, starting as a storm slab, and getting larger as it entrained loose new snow lower on the slope.

20-35 cm of new snow fell with light winds overnight on Thursday and into Friday morning. A melt freeze crust may be present underneath this new snow, on all aspects, and reported as high as 2100 m.  

Snowfall amounts have varied substantially since the start of the week with south of highway 3 receiving 30-50 cm and the north getting 10-20 cm. This fell as rain at lower elevations, so expect moist snow underneath the melt freeze crust. 

The recent storm snow still needs time to bond to a variety of old surfaces such as firm wind-pressed snow, sun crust on solar aspects, and potentially weak, sugary crystals buried in late February.

The middle and lower snowpack are generally well consolidated, with a crust/facet layer from early December found near the ground. It is currently considered dormant but could become active later this season. 

• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
• Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
• Start with simple terrain and gather information before thinking about more committing features.
• Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
• Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.