Purcells

A variety of weak layers continue to produce human triggered avalanches. We're still managing a midwinter snowpack that requires thoughtful terrain selection.

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A seasonably cool weather pattern is expected to stick around for the foreseeable future and it looks like we will pick up a few centimeters of snow every day through the weekend too. THURSDAY: Scattered cloud cover, freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1000 m, light variable wind, 1 to 2 cm of snow possible. FRIDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1000 m, light southerly wind at treeline, moderate westerly wind at ridgetop, 1 to 2 cm of snow possible. SATURDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1000 m, light southerly wind, 1 to 3 cm of snow possible.

On Tuesday a small avalanche was triggered by a skier on a northeast facing slope at 2200 m. The size 1 avalanche failed on the late March interface. Control work produced avalanches from size 2 to 3 on north/northeast facing features above 2400 m that likely ran on the late March interface as well.On Saturday a skier triggered a large slab avalanche (size 2.5) on a south aspect at 2600 m. The avalanche failed on a buried sun crust 150-200 cm below the surface. Another large (size 2.5) wind slab released naturally from a steep southeast-facing alpine slope in the St. Mary's area. Explosives control in the northern half of the region produced numerous storm slabs ranging from size 1.5-2.5 at treeline and alpine elevations. Crown fractures ranged from 30-100 cm. All aspects were represented in results, with the majority of activity focused on northeast to northwest aspects in the alpine.

Tuesday night's storm brought up to 8 cm of new snow with very little wind.Storms over the past week brought variable snowfall totals of 20-80 cm to the region, with areas to the south of the region seeing the deepest accumulations. This storm snow sits on a persistent weak layer buried in late March that consist of crusts below 1900 m and on south aspects, and surface hoar on shaded aspects at higher elevations. Other slightly deeper surface hoar/facet layers have been reported on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 40-90 cm below the surface.Deeper persistent weak layers from mid-late February as well as January and December layers, are still being monitored by professional observers, but are generally considered dormant. Facets also linger at the base of the snowpack.