Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Things are improving. The snowpack in the Western portion of the forecast region is more supportive and cohesive, as compared with the East. A storm on Tues night will elevate the hazard.
Weather Forecast
Up to 20cm of storm snow is expected on Tuesday night with poor confidence. However, if accurate, 20cm of storm snow will move the danger rating to high. Temps will hover around the -5 mark in the alpine until Wednesday.
Snowpack Summary
30-50cm of recent storm snow is bonding well to old surfaces. In the Lake Louise region, the Mar 13 sun-crust/facet layer can be found down 40-60 cm on S aspects, and the Feb 10 crust/facet layer is down 80-100cm on all aspects. The Feb 10 layer produced no results in Yoho today. Fewer results on North aspects.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed or reported today.
Confidence
Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Tuesday
Problems
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.