Conditions vary across the region. Check the 'forecast details' tab for more info.
Confidence
Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Sunday: Cold with periods of light snow, amounting to perhaps 6cm. Strong westerly winds turning to light north-easterlies. Monday/Tuesday: Cloudy in the valleys with occasional snow. Strong northerly to easterly winds. Cold.
Avalanche Summary
A smattering of avalanches involving persistent weak layers occurred throughout the region earlier in the week, on north-east aspects at treeline and above. No avalanche activity on these layers has been reported since Wednesday, however the possibility lingers.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack in the South Rockies region varies considerably at present, with the Southern Elk Valley and Flathead Ranges close in nature to the Lizard Range. Near the Crowsnest, it's been drier and more consistently windy. Castle Mountain has been having its own little party and getting locally heavy snowfall. Anywhere from 4-30cm of new snow has fallen, redistributed by strong south-westerly winds into soft and hard wind slabs on lee slopes. Besides new storm/wind-related concerns, the layer we're still watching in the region is a surface hoar layer buried in early December. It's down about 85cm in the Flathead and exhibits hard, sudden planar/full propagation results, meaning that's it's stubborn to trigger but could create a large avalanche if triggered.At the bottom of the snowpack a variable facet/crust/facet sandwich is located with depth hoar up to size 5mm below the crust, and facets size 2mm above. There has been little in the way of recent activity on basal layers.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
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.
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.