Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Natural activity has tapered off, but it's still early season and we don't have many alpine observations. We feel it is moderate by definition, but there is still potential to trigger something if you are getting into bigger terrain.
Weather Forecast
A westerly flow will bring consistent, but light precip amounts this week. 5- 10 cm per day with higher amounts in the north of the region. Winds will be light to moderate from the west in the alpine and freezing levels will be below valley bottom.
Snowpack Summary
25 cm of settled snow over the past week has been blown into reactive windslabs in the alpine. The main weakness to watch is the Oct 31 crust/facet layer located about 30cm above the ground which is producing moderate sudden collapse test results. This layer is a temperature crust below ~ 2400m and a facet layer above this.
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches were reported or observed today.
Confidence
Due to the number of field observations
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.
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.