Friday, April 19

The surface ridge of high-pressure over the Rockies will extend through the end of the day on Friday. A mix of sun and cloud will be seen at the SkiBig3 resorts north to Marmot Basin. A bit of instability persists across K-Country, with chances of afternoon flurries at Nakiska.  

Light North/NE winds will keep temps below seasonal for one more day. Alpine highs (2000m) are only expected to reach around -3C to -5C. Freeze levels, around 1500m. 

A few images from Delirium Dive, which opened Thursday afternoon with around 15 cm of freshies. (Images courtesy of Dan Evans, SkiBig3)

 
Saturday, April 20 – Sunday, April 21 

A transient ridge of high-pressure moves in from the west on Saturday with a SW flow replacing the cold NE upslope flow seen since last Tuesday. This will return springlike temps with mostly sunny skies across all Alberta Rockies resorts on Saturday. 

Afternoon alpine high temps at 2000m will reach above zero at all resorts, ranging from 5C at Nakiska, Norquay, and Marmot, to 2C at Sunshine and Louise. Light SW winds, moderate on ridgetops. This will surely help soften some of those hard surface conditions.   

A developing disturbance looks to bring increasing cloud cover overnight on Saturday with widespread flurries developing by midday on Sunday. Areas along the Divide, Sunshine, Louise, and Marmot could see a trace to a few centimeters by last chair on Sunday.  

Temps will be a bit cooler, but seasonal under a west/SW flow on Sunday with alpine highs at 2000m around -2C. 

Better chances (35 – 45%) for accumulating snow appear for Sunday night, as a Pacific shortwave moves into the Rockies. Sunshine once again looks best positioned for 5 – 10 cm by Monday morning, with 3 – 6 cm at Louise. Trace accumulations up to 5 cm are 30% possible at Marmot.  

The shortwave will keep the skies unsettled on Monday with isolated flurries through the day with minimal (less than 3 cm) accumulations likely. Alpine temps remain in spring mode with afternoon highs of 1C to 3C. 

A weak upper ridge builds into Western Canada by Tuesday and extends through the day on Wednesday with benign skies and seasonal temps.

Our next Gulf of Alaska upper trough moves into the Rockies by Wednesday night and hangs around across the region through Friday. 

At this point (7 days out) the main energy of this low looks to track into Central BC, brushing the Alberta Rockies. Light accumulations in the 5 – 10 cm are possible into Friday. Slightly cooler temps Thursday and Friday.  

With Nakiska and Norquay ending their 23/24 season this Sunday, April 21st, I’ll be winding back my forecast discussions to once a week on Friday mornings. But, if a spring storm materializes in the meantime, I’ll jump on for a quick storm alert. 

Thanks again for reading this season! 

My next update will be next Friday morning, April 26.

Until then,

Powder Out,  

Bob 

Summer Weather: How To Use OpenSnow

As the snow begins to melt and summer conditions quickly take over, remember that you can use OpenSnow as your go-to weather app during the non-winter months.

Get started by going to...

1. Favorites > Weather
2. Location > Weather
3. Maps > Weather

Switch to using your "Summer" favorites list, check the "Weather" tab on both the Favorites screen and any location screen, and avoid poor air quality & incoming storms with our summer-focused map layers in the OpenSnow app.

You can also view the hourly forecast for the next 10 days for any location on Earth in OpenSnow.

1. Go to the "Maps" tab.
2. Tap anywhere or search for a city.
3. Tap "View Forecast".

View → Summer Forecasts

Geography Key

North Region:  ( * denotes SkiBig3 resorts )

*Banff/Sunshine Village   Slush Cup!!  Closing Day May 20 

*Lake Louise Ski Resort   Closing Day May 5

*Mt Norquay  Closing Day April 21    

Marmot Basin    Closing Day May 5

South Region:

Castle Mountain  Closed for the Season  

Fortress / KPOW Cat Skiing  - Call Ahead  

Nakiska  Bonus Weekend April 19 – 21. 

Pass Powderkeg  - Closed for the Season