Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
With periods of sun expected tomorrow, watch out for rock fall in steeper terrain on solar aspects. Great climbing and travel conditions continue - enjoy!
Weather Forecast
For Saturday, expect a mix of sun and cloud, alpine temperatures around 0C, and light west with occasional gusts. Sunday - Monday there will be a return to predominately cloudy skies with no significant precipitation.
Snowpack Summary
Despite the presence of weak facets and depth hoar near the ground, the weak layers in the snowpack are largely dormant right now. This is a result of past warming and rain, then cold temperatures and no significant snow for several weeks. Once the temperatures warm up significantly and/or new snow arrives then the weak layers will re-activate.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported or observed today.
Problems
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.