Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Cooler temperatures and moderate winds in the alpine may keep the snow cooler on Wednesday. Pay attention to solar inputs and how fast the snow is warming up.
Weather Forecast
Wednesday will bring mixed sun and cloud with some isolated wet flurries. Freezing levels will be around 2300 m.
Snowpack Summary
Spring time conditions exist. The snow is frozen in the morning and becomes moist in the afternoon. Isothermal conditions can be expected at lower elevations.
Avalanche Summary
A few solar triggered slides off of steep solar aspects today. Several larger (Class 3) solar released avalanches have been observed from past 48 hours.
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.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.