Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Even short solar inputs will increase the reactivity of the new snow. Watch for changing conditions through the day.
Weather Forecast
Clearing overnight with increased cloud cover Wednesday morning, more precipitation is forecasted with amount ranging from 5-10cm. Winds are expected to remain light in the alpine. Temperatures will hover around zero degrees for the valley with alpine temperature in the -5 to -10 range.
Snowpack Summary
20-40cm of new snow overnight with minimal winds Tuesday kept the storm snow light in the alpine, steep solar aspects and lower elevations did see settlement and moistening in the storm snow. The new snow sit over numerus melt freeze crust's on all aspects below 2300m and high alpine on solar. The basel weakness still persist at higher elevations.
Avalanche Summary
Numerus loose dry avalanches to size 1.5 have released in the storm snow, although no real slab has developed in the new snow, the storm interface is touchy and easy to trigger loose avalanches.
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.
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.