Purcells

Keep an eye on the temperatures over the next few days. Solar radiation and rising freezing levels can weaken the snowpack and make destructive avalanches more likely.

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Mainly sunny skies will persist throughout the forecast period as the dry ridge continues to occupy our province. Daytime freezing levels should hover around 1500m for each day, although an inversion is possible on Tuesday. Winds will remain generally moderate from the northwest.

Avalanche activity has gradually tapered off throughout the week. On Thursday explosive control work on steep North and East facing slopes only resulted in loose snow sluffs. Earlier in the week there were reports of natural and explosive triggered cornice falls and slabs, typically size 2-3 and all from alpine terrain.

Generally light amounts of new snow cover the previous variable snow surface of crusts, surface hoar, dry facetted snow, or wind affected snow depending on aspect and elevation. Thin new wind slabs are likely in exposed lee terrain, and cornices remain large and weak. The 'Valentine's Day' crust is thick and supportive below 2100 m. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer is 1-2 m deep in the west, and can be found within the upper metre of the snowpack further east. It is variably reactive in snowpack tests and still the main concern in many areas. The mid-January surface hoar, deeper again, remains problematic in some areas. The mid-December and mid-November weak layers of crusts and facets can still be found near the bottom of the snowpack, particularly in shallower eastern parts of the Purcells.