Avalanche danger will increase if sun comes out. The trend will be cold nights followed by daytime heating.
Weather Forecast
Monday will be flurries with potentially 10-15cm Sunday night to Monday night, seasonal temperatures, and possibly 75km/hr West winds at 3000m. Tuesday will be sunny, rising freezing levels from the sun and calm winds. Wednesday will bring a weak pulse of snow and the freezing level will rise to 1500m.
Snowpack Summary
Soft slabs have formed on exposed treeline locations and above from Saturday nights strong North winds. Expect reverse loading patterns. 90+cm of snow has fallen since Wednesday and this was our first real wind. At treeline, soft slabs rest on a thin suncrust buried 80 cm deep in exposed south facing terrain. Snow below treeline is unconsolidated.
Avalanche Summary
Maligne and Icefields patrolled today with 100% visibility. A few size 3 storm slab avalanches have run on large planar alpine slopes. They appear to be initiating in lower start zones around 2500m. Numerous loose solar sluffs to size 2 noted mainly on SW-NW aspects with a few on East aspects. Natural activity was increasing with solar punch.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Tuesday
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 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.