Weather
Snow stays focused on the Alberta Rockies through Saturday, with Banff Sunshine and Lake Louise picking up the only meaningful refresh in the region while most of interior British Columbia trends much drier and more springlike. With Banff Sunshine and Lake Louise still open while Big White, Revelstoke, RED Mountain, and Kicking Horse are closed, the meaningful lift-served weather story is concentrated in the Banff/Lake Louise corridor. Confidence is highest from Wednesday through Saturday night, when guidance is most aligned on storm timing, falling snow levels, and the best chance for soft turns at the open Alberta hills.
From Wednesday into Thursday night, guidance converges on the Alberta Rockies as the only part of the region with a real storm signal, with Banff Sunshine favored for about 10-15 cm and Lake Louise closer to 5-10 cm through the first wave. Timing agreement is solid on snow ramping up Wednesday afternoon and evening, but intensity still varies because wetter guidance is notably more aggressive than the rest. Snow levels start uncomfortably high, so the first few hours can be dense or mixed near lower lifts, then collapse below base elevation overnight as temperatures fall toward -6 to -10 C. That shift should improve snow quality from dense 4-10:1 snow early to lighter 14-18:1 snow overnight and Thursday.
A colder second pulse is favored Friday into early Saturday, and the models are better aligned on snow levels than on intensity. Snow levels fall to valley floors, temperatures settle around -6 to -12 C at the Banff resorts, and the snow that falls should be lighter, with SLRs mostly 14-20. Most guidance supports another 2-5 cm at Banff Sunshine and 2-3 cm at Lake Louise, while most of interior British Columbia stays near dry or only squeezes out a couple of centimeters. Wind guidance is less tidy than the snowfall timing: several solutions keep ridge-top gusts manageable, while a more aggressive camp briefly kicks up stronger bursts, so expect intermittent upper-mountain exposure rather than a prolonged wind problem.
Sunday through Thursday looks much quieter, with only spotty leftover flurries and a return to spring afternoons after cold nights. Guidance generally converges on a dry stretch for most resorts, and even the Alberta hills only show minor nuisance snow in that period. The next possible wave arrives Friday into Saturday, but the guidance diverges sharply there: GFS and AIFS keep a warmer upper-mountain refresh alive while ECMWF is much drier, and snow levels near 2,000 meters would keep any accumulation confined mainly to upper terrain. If the wetter guidance wins, think more along the lines of a dense 2-6 cm refresh at the highest Alberta terrain rather than a true powder cycle.
Resort Forecast Totals (Wed Apr 22 – Sat Apr 25)
- Banff Sunshine – 12-16 cm
- Lake Louise – 7-9 cm
- Mount Norquay – 4-6 cm
- Kicking Horse – 3 cm
- RED Mountain – 2 cm
- Big White – 1-2 cm
- Revelstoke – 1 cm
