Purcells

Soak up the sunshine, take stock of early season snowpack variability, and monitor for lingering pockets of wind slab in the alpine.

Share what you see in the mountains this weekend via the MIN!

Saturday night: Mostly clear, light variable wind, alpine temperature -9 C, no precipitation.

Sunday: Increasing cloud cover, light southwest wind, alpine temperature -7 C, isolated flurries with a trace of accumulation.

Monday: Mostly cloudy, moderate southwest wind, alpine temperature -7 C, isolated flurries with 1-3 cm of accumulation possible.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, moderate southwest wind, alpine temperature -6 C, isolated flurries with 1-3 cm of accumulation possible. 

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 South Columbia region on Wednesday that helps to paint the picture of these wind slab avalanches.

If you see anything while out in the field, please consider sharing that information with us and the backcountry community via the Mountain Information Network.

A week of cold temperatures has been decreasing the strength of the upper snowpack, except in isolated areas where it has been drifted into wind slabs in the alpine. These slabs could be more reactive where they overly a weak layer of surface hoar (feathery crystals) that formed last week. 

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.