Purcells

Skyrocketing temperatures make avalanche forecasters nervous. Deeply buried weak layers could wake up, creating very large avalanches.

Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Monday

Bring out the flip flops! A strong ridge of high pressure is expected to bring mainly sunny skies (above valley cloud) with no precipitation for the next three days. A warm southerly flow causes the freezing level to rise as high as 3000 m. Alpine temperatures should be well above 0.For more details check out https://avalanche.ca/weather.

A natural and artificially-triggered cycle of size 1-3 avalanches occurred on Saturday in response to new snow and very strong winds. The largest events were in the northern Purcells, including Quartz Creek. These are suspected to have failed on the early January persistent weak layer. Numerous persistent slabs have been triggered this week or so in the north. On Friday, a snow cat triggered a size 2 persistent slab on a SE aspect near 2300 m near Golden. Last Saturday, a size 3 sledder-triggered avalanche occurred in the Gorman Creek riding area. Around the same time, a skier triggered a size 3.5 persistent slab a few drainages to the south of Gorman Creek on a north-facing alpine slope. Forecast warming may increase the reactivity of the persistent slab.

Strong to extreme SW winds on Saturday created wind slabs and cornices in many areas. Wind slabs may be found lower in the start zones than normal due to the high wind speed. The early January surface hoar/ facet layer is typically down 70-90 cm. Recent very large avalanches have been failing on this interface in the north of the region (see avalanche discussion). In general, the lower snowpack below this layer is well settled and strong, apart from some thin snowpack areas where basal facets exist.