Adjust your travel plans based on local conditions.
Storm snow may need time to bond with old snow surfaces, step back into conservative terrain at signs of instability.
Observations from the Shuswap area suggest a buried crust/facet layer in the upper snowpack may be reaching a tipping point. We are uncertain how prevalent this problem is throughout the region.
Recent storm snow sits over a layer of surface hoar, making for a poor bond. An underlying crust makes for a slippery bed surface for avalanches to run on.
Avalanches may fail as a slab where wind affected, or as dry loose in sheltered areas.
On Sunday and Monday, avalanches up to size 1 were reported from human and explosive triggers. While most failed within the recent storm snow or on the recently buried crust, one stepped down to the late January surface hoar and crust.
This slab avalanche was reported from Crowfoot riding area west of Sicamous on Saturday. We suspect it also ran one of the buried crust layers in the upper snowpack.
Recent storm totals have reached 10-25 cm, sitting over a widespread layer of surface hoar and a crust.
Observations from the Shuswap area indicate two crust/facet layers buried within the top 40 cm of the snowpack may be reactive. While widespread, these layers haven’t caused concern elsewhere, yet.
The remainder of the snowpack is dense and well bonded, containing many more crusts.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy. 1 cm of snow. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Thursday
Mix of sun and clouds. 2 cm of snow. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.
Friday
Sunny. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
