Monitor the expected storm arrival and freezing levels Tuesday afternoon. Rain can tip the scales quickly.
Weather Forecast
Flurries Monday night with less overnight freeze than previous. Tuesday will bring a storm in the afternoon, freezing levels 2000m or higher, and SE winds. Models are not agreeing as to precipitation amounts Tuesday and Wednesday but expect rain below 2000m. The storm may be more intense around the Icefields and Saskatchewan crossing.
Snowpack Summary
The crust remains intact except for the steepest solar facing aspects below tree-line. The snowpack remains moist below this crust. Higher elevations, the snowpack has a solid mid-pack over a faceted base. Cornices are large and ominous. Watch for a storm slab problem developing on Wednesday with this current surface crust being a weak interface.
Avalanche Summary
One size 1 isothermal slide noted along Maligne lake road at 1500m elevation. No new avalanches noted in the Icefields area.
Confidence
Freezing levels are uncertain on Tuesday
Problems
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.
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.