Warm conditions will continue throughout the weekend, with double-digit daytime highs for the City of Calgary and surrounding communities.
While this unusually warm weather has been a welcome improvement to most people, this dramatic change in temperatures and conditions from the start of February to the end has created a dangerous situation in the backcountry.
As of 7 a.m. Friday, Avalanche Canada evaluated the avalanche risk across most of Alberta and B.C. from moderate to high.
The agency also issued widespread special public avalanche warnings due to “prominent weak layers” sitting under “a consolidated slab of snow, creating dangerous avalanche conditions.”
Avalanche Canada describes the weak layers, which are “buried between 30 and 100 centimetres deep,” consist of a variety of surfaces, including “surface hoar, faceted snow, or crusts.”
On Friday, the daytime high in Calgary should hit 11 C, and be even warmer on Saturday. These highs along with mainly sunny conditions will cause more melting during the day on surfaces that are still snow and ice-covered.
Pooled water could potentially ice up in shadier areas and/or during the overnight periods.
More snow is expected late on Sunday and early Monday along the foothills and possibly as far east as the QEII and Highway 2 north and south of Calgary.
With warmer surface temperatures, most of the initial snow should melt on contact.
That precipitation is associated with a shift in the weather patterns and an infusion of colder air, resulting in noticeably lower daytime highs to start next week, peaking around 3 C to 5 C on Monday and Tuesday.
