Looks like another windy day on Sunday, but there might not be much snow left to be transported. Seeking out sheltered powder will help you steer clear of any lingering wind slabs.
10 to 20 cm of recent snow and moderate southwest winds formed wind slabs at upper elevations. These slabs are most likely to still be reactive on steep, leeward features immediately below ridgetop.
There were only a couple of small avalanches in the Fernie area in the past two days. One was a 30 cm-deep skier-triggered storm slab on a north aspect and the other a small cornice failure that triggered a size 1 storm slab below an alpine ridgetop. Both occurred at 2100 m or higher and ran on the late-March crust.
If you are heading into the backcountry, please consider sharing conditions by posting a MIN.
Melt-freeze crust has likely formed on many solar aspects, topping 10 to 20 cm of recent snow, affected by previous southwest wind and redistributed into wind slabs on lee aspects at upper elevations. These would most likely be reactive on steep slopes immediately below ridgetop.
This recent snow sits on a thick crust. Below it, up to 50 cm of rain soaked snow sits on another crust (1 to 10 cm thick) from early March.
Persistent weak layers may linger within the top 150 cm of the snowpack. These are unlikely to trigger in most areas as a result of the thick crust bridging over them.
The mid and lower snowpack is well settled and strong in most areas and snowpack depth tapers rapidly at lower elevations.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level reaching 2400 m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.
Monday
Mostly cloudy as overnight snowfall eases, leaving 10 to 20 total cm of new snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind, after 50 km/h southwest wind overnight. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
