Avalanche conditions are generally safe. A few things to keep in mind as you travel are the potential for isolated cornice failures and small wet loose avalanches on sun-exposed slopes.
Depending on the timing of the incoming cloud cover on Thursday, strong March solar radiation still has the potential to create wet loose avalanches on sunny slopes.
On Sunday, a few natural size 1 loose wet avalanches were observed from steep terrain on solar aspects.
On Saturday, avalanches up to size 2.5 were reported in the Crowsnest South area, including some deep releases. We suspect these deep persistent slabs occurred as a result of strong sun and warmer temperatures. This problem will likely reemerge throughout the spring when the snowpack undergoes rapid changes from sun, rain or warming.
If you have any observations from this data sparse region, especially regarding a potential deep persistent slab problem, let us know what you are seeing by submitting a report to the Mountain Information Network.
The snow surface consists of a sun crust on solar aspects, a rain crust below 1700 m, and wind-affected snow in exposed terrain at higher elevations. Small facets and/or surface hoar may also exist in shaded and wind-sheltered terrain.
A melt-freeze crust with facets above can be found 50 to 120 cm deep. The layer is currently dormant and has not produced any recent avalanche activity in the region but professionals are still tracking it to watch for signs of it waking up.
The weak layer at the base of the snowpack produced some large avalanches on the weekend and we are concerned that it might be becoming a more active problem with the current warm conditions. Caution is recommended in thin, rocky areas, mainly in the alpine but also possibly at treeline in some areas.
Wednesday night
Clear. Alpine temperatures drop to a low of -6 °C. Ridge wind light from the southwest. Freezing level at valley bottom.
Thursday
A mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperatures reach a high of 0 °C. Ridge wind southwest 10-30 km/h. Freezing level rises to 2000 metres.
Friday
Cloudy with scattered flurries, up to 5 cm accumulation. Alpine temperatures reach a high of -5 °C. Ridge wind southwest 10-30 km/h. Freezing level rises to 1400 metres.
Saturday
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperatures reach a high of -7 °C. Ridge wind southwest 15-25 km/h. Freezing level at valley bottom.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
