Purcells

Watch for thin wind slabs in alpine terrain.

Extreme cold significantly increases the consequences of an incident in the backcountry.

Several storm and wind slab avalanches were reported across the region on Tuesday and Wednesday. They occurred on a variety of aspects and elevations and were both naturally and explosive triggered, up to size 2.

If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Up to 40 cm of recent, low-density snow sits atop a variety of old surfaces, including surface hoar, crusts and/or facets.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally weak with several layers of note. Of greatest concern are weak facets and/or depth hoar located at the bottom of the snowpack, particularly in alpine terrain.

Snowpack depths at treeline range from 60 to 150 cm.

Thursday Night

Mostly clear with no precipitation, north alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -35 °C.

Friday

Sunny with no precipitation, northwest alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -32 °C.

Saturday

Sunny with no precipitation, northwest alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -30 °C.

Sunday

Sunny with no precipitation, north alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -26 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
• Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.