Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
5-10cm in the forecast for Sunday. It should stay cloudy but watch for local solar input which will increase the danger. We haven't had the big spring warmup yet but early next week could see a spike in temperatures.
Weather Forecast
Cloudy with light snow overnight into Sunday. We should see 5-10cm with West winds dipping into the moderate range. The East slopes could see some decent warming Monday and Tuesday with increased solar input.
Snowpack Summary
Trace amounts of new snow in the past 24 hours. Last week's storm brought 15-40cm with moderate S and W winds creating wind slabs in the alpine. The March 15 suncrust is down 25-50cm on south-east through west aspects and has been sensitive to skier triggering over the last few days.
Avalanche Summary
In the last few days, there was a skier accidental avalanche at Sentinel Pass, and another 2.5 avalanche on the S side of Isolated Col in Little Yoho. Both avalanches were in the alpine on solar aspects, and failed on the March 15 crust persistent layer that has been sensitive to skier triggering for a couple of weeks.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Sunday
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.