Forecasted snowfall and continued wind will increase the load sitting on the faceted snow pack. Avoid wind-loaded features.
Continued wind slab development is expected with overnight snowfall and moderate SW winds.
Wind slabs in the alpine and exposed treeline features have the potential for wide propagations across connected features.
Caution in thin facetted snowpack areas where triggering is more likely. This is a low probability but high consequence problem.
Overnight: 9cm of snow forecast for overnight Monday to Tuesday morning, with moderate to strong SW winds.
Tuesday: Alpine temperature: High -8 C. Ridge wind southwest: 25 km/h gusting to 75 km/h. Trace amount of snow
Wednesday: Alpine temperature: Low -11 C, High -6 C. Ridge wind southwest: 20 km/h gusting to 50 km/h. Trace amount of snow.
Continued widespread wind effect in open areas at all elevations. Windward aspects have been heavily stripped of snow. The snowpack is highly variable. Shallow snowpack areas are weak and failing in compression tests, while the mid-pack is supportive in areas where the snowpack is deeper.
A few wind slabs size 2-3 were observed today in the Sunwapta Zone on E and SW aspects; 2 of these avalanches were triggered by cornice failures and stated at or just above tree line, running to below tree line.
