Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Little change has occurred or is expected to for the next few days. Manage terrain decisions while considering windslabs and dry loose avalanches in steep terrain.
Weather Forecast
The forecast indicates that very cold temperatures will persist Monday and Tuesday, with a slight warming trend on Wednesday to near zero in the valley bottoms. Clear skies with nil precipitation are also expected through the same period. The wind will increase to the strong range from the East early Tuesday.
Snowpack Summary
20 to 40 cm has accumulated since Feb 1 along with isolated crusts on steep solar slopes and wind effect treeline and above. In isolated areas at treeline and below the Jan 17 surface hoar can be found down 30-60 cm, and is producing hard but sudden test results. Weak basal facets can be found in thinner snow pack areas.
Avalanche Summary
No windslabs reported or observed today but they still linger. Skier triggered loose dry sluffing of the surface facets has also been observed in steep terrain at all elevations up to size 1.
Confidence
Due to the quality of field observations on Sunday
Problems
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.
Loose Dry
Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.