Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Touchy slabs exist where the storm slab overlies a weak, sugary snowpack. Whumphing and shooting cracks are obvious signs of this condition.
Weather Forecast
Mainly sunny tomorrow with a high solar impact on southerly aspects. Winds will remain light from the NW, temp's will be rise to slightly above normal in the afternoon with the aid of the sun, and no precipitation is expected.
Snowpack Summary
The storm snow from last weekend continues to strengthen as a unit, with no obvious shears within it. It also seems to be bonding reasonably well to the underlying snow surfaces. However, in areas of thinner snowpack (east of the Divide) and on steeper, southern aspects, the storm slab remains touchy and human triggering to size 3 is possible.
Avalanche Summary
Wednesday, a group of skiers remotely triggered, from 100m away, a size 3 slab near Dolomite Peak. They reported it failed on a SE aspect and the crown was up to 2m thick. Today, a field team around the Sunshine area noted several whumph's and cracking in the snowpack near wind-effected features.
Confidence
The weather pattern is stable
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.