Highway 93 and Maligne lake road are closed until further notice.
Weather Forecast
Scattered flurries are expected to be produce on trace amounts of snow on Tuesday with the freezing level staying around 1400m into early Wednesday morning. Winds will lighten up and stay steady from the SW to West. Later in the week should see a slight cooling trend which will firm up the snowpack.
Snowpack Summary
Below 2500m, the has been an infusion of rain and/or wet snow. At treeline, the heavier snow sits over a persistent weak layer. Below treeline, isothermic conditions exist. With a such a highly variable snowpack in the region, expect these conditions to overload lingering instabilities and go to ground in some locations.
Avalanche Summary
Numerous slab avalanches up to size 3 were seen originating at treeline on all aspects near the forecast area. These were often started by a point release from above which would have stepped down to the midpack weak layer and also to ground. Below treeline, numerous loose snow avalanches up to size 2,started from rock bluffs.
Confidence
Freezing levels are uncertain on Wednesday
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.
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.
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.