Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
We are on a slow healing trend after the big storm earlier in the week. It will take a few days for the new snow to bond to the surfaces below. SH
Weather Forecast
Lowering freezing levels to valley bottom, light to moderate SW winds and only light precipitation with cloudy conditions in the forecast for Sunday. A continued cooling trend is forecast over the next few days with clearing skies on Tuesday.
Snowpack Summary
40-60cm of recent storm snow is settling out as the temperatures start to cool down. Moist snow below 1700m. East of the divide there is a mainly faceted snowpack beneath the recent snow. Thicker snowpack areas are found mainly West of the divide and have a well settled snowpack beneath the recent storm slabs.
Avalanche Summary
Explosive control at sunshine village produced 2 size 3's releasing on basal facets 1m deep and several size 2's confined to the recent storm snow. These were 40-60cm deep. One natural cornice release on Mt. Bosworth caused a size 3 within the storm snow within the last 24 hours.
Problems
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.
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.