Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Put a wide margin between yourself and cornices, as they are particularly sensitive at the moment. Additionally, watch out for a weather system that will move into the region starting Tuesday and elevating the hazard.
Weather Forecast
A system is going to track through the forecast region starting Tuesday afternoon. It is calling for warm temps and a moderate amount of precip. This COULD amount to rain at valley bottoms, hence the considerable danger rating on Tuesday below treeline.
Snowpack Summary
HST settling and a surface crust will exist in the am and break down over the day on all aspects up to to 2200ms, higher on S and W aspects. Cornices seem to be more sensitive to the temperature fluctuations especially on the solar aspects and have been seen to trigger slabs below both in the storm snow and the deeper persistent layers.
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches were observed or reported today.
Confidence
Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Wednesday
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.