Purcells

Keep an eye out for lingering wind slabs and variable ski quality.

Sunday night: Cloudy with isolated flurries, alpine temperature -10 C, moderate west wind.

Monday: Cloudy and scattered flurries, up to 4 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -8 C, moderate west wind.

Tuesday: Flurries, 5-10 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -8 C, moderate-strong west wind.

Wednesday: Flurries, 5-15 cm accumulation, alpine temperature -7 C, moderate southwest wind.

Avalanches are decreasing in likelihood, but it still may be possible to trigger wind slabs in isolated pockets in the alpine. This is a great MIN report from the nearby South Columbia region on Wednesday that helps to paint the picture of these wind slab avalanches.

Recent wind affect on surface snow can be found at all elevations, and old, hard windslabs are found in the alpine and around ridgline. These slabs could be more reactive where they overly a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) that formed on a crust. The last week of cold temperatures has been slowly decreasing the strength of the upper snowpack.

Snowpack depth is highly variable, ranging from 10 cm to 100 cm. Expect to find weak facets (sugary, cohesion-less snow) in the thin areas. A variety of crusts from late October are buried deeper in the snowpack (down 30 to 70 cm). Generally, the inactive weather pattern over the past week has improved snowpack stability in the short term.