Kootenay Boundary

As the new snow piles up, the likelihood of storm slabs will increase.
Dial back your exposure as the day progresses.

A few small storm slabs were triggered on Saturday. They ran on the new crust that's just below the surface.

Up to 10 cm of snow in places has buried a widespread melt–freeze crust. Beneath this crust, the snow remains moist due to the recent warm and wet weather. Some alpine areas or regions that received less rain may remain crust-free.

A mid-November crust, with facets or surface hoar above it, is now buried 50 to 100 cm deep.

The lower snowpack is generally well settled and bonded.

Snowpack depth at treeline ranges from roughly 90 to 160 cm, but decreases quickly at lower elevations, leaving many below-treeline slopes without sufficient snow coverage to produce avalanches.

Sunday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Monday
Cloudy with 10 to 20 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level reaching 2200 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with 20 to 35 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
• Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
• Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
• A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.