Kootenay Boundary

15-25 cm new snow and strong south wind have formed reactive storm slabs at all elevations.

Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.

Explosive control work on southerly aspects at treeline produced numerous storm slabs to size 2 on Monday.

15-25 cm of new snow, strong south winds, and rising freezing levels have formed reactive storm slabs.

This brings recent snow amounts to 40-50 cm which overlies a variety of surfaces. These include surface hoar (3-5 mm) on shady slopes, wind affected surfaces at treeline and above, and sun crust on sunny aspects.

A layer of surface hoar or sun crust (aspect dependent) can be found down 50-70 cm.

The lower snowpack includes a layer of weak sugary facets near the ground. These facets are slowly gaining strength and no recent avalanches have been reported on this layer. However, we continue to track the layer and watch for any signs of it becoming active.

Monday Night

Snow; 10-20 cm / 40 km/h west ridgetop wind / Low temperature at treeline around -8 C / Freezing level valley bottom

Tuesday

Mix of sun and cloud / 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind / High temperature at treeline around -8 C / Freezing level 1200 m

Wednesday

Mix of sun and cloud / 20 km/h west ridgetop wind / High temperature at treeline around -6 C / Freezing level 1300 m

Thursday

Sunny / 10 km/h south ridgetop wind / High temperature at treeline around -4 C / Freezing level 1500 m

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
• Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
• Avoid exposure to slopes that have cornices overhead.
• A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
• Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.