Purcells

Wind slabs are likely to be encountered at upper elevations and may be reactive to human triggering, especially in lee features.

MONDAY NIGHT - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries / southwest wind, 10-30 km/h / alpine low temperature near -4

TUESDAY - Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries, up to 5 cm / south wind, 10-30 km/h / alpine high temperature near -3

WEDNESDAY - Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries / southwest wind, 15-25 km/h / alpine high temperature near -7

THURSDAY - Cloudy with scattered flurries / southwest wind, 30-50 km/h / alpine high temperature near -3 / freezing level 1300 m

On Sunday and Monday there were a few natural and cornice triggered avalanches up to size 2.5.

Numerous large (size 2) wind slabs were triggered by humans and explosives on Saturday. They were generally 10 to 40 cm deep and occurred at treeline and alpine elevations.

A couple of deep persistent slabs were triggered by explosives. They were large (size 2) and occurred in the alpine, scrubbing to the ground.

Around 15 cm of recent snow and strong southwest wind has produced wind slabs in lee terrain features, particularly near ridges.

A layer of surface hoar that formed in late December appears to be less reactive than it was a week ago and can be found 70 cm deep around Golden, 30 cm deep around Invermere, 70 cm deep around Kimberley, and 100 cm deep along Kootenay Lake. 

As usual for the Purcells, the base of the snowpack contains basal facets and it remains possible to trigger these deep weak layers in shallow rocky start zones or from a heavy trigger such as a cornice fall or explosives.

• Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
• Use caution on large alpine slopes, especially around thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilities.