Purcells

Buried surface hoar from mid December continues to be a concern in parts of the region. Dig down to identify if this is a concern in your area.

High

Overcast with freezing levels at valley bottoms for the duration of the forecast. Light south or southeast winds and alpine temperatures around -7 during the days. Some flurries or light snow falls with little accumulation expected. The south of the region may see a bit more snow, but probably total snowfall of 5-10 cm.

Some loose snow avalanches continue to be reported from steep alpine terrain. Last week several large avalanches were skier triggered in the southern Purcells, west of Kimberly, on buried surface hoar. Something to keep in mind when looking for new lines!

Conditions are quite variable throughout the region. In the southern Purcells, (west of Kimberley), a prominent layer of buried surface hoar has shown to be reactive to human triggers. In this part of the region, it's buried down 40 cm with a cohesive slab above it. Further north, this surface hoar layer is 60-120 cm down and has been sporadically reactive to skiers, most recently on north-west facing alpine slopes near Golden. At alpine elevations, this interface exists as a surface hoar/facet layer sitting on a crust. The lower snowpack is generally considered to be well settled. Solar aspects may now have sun crust from the recent warm temperatures. New and old wind slabs may be found in the lee of ridges and ribs on a variety of slopes, and surface hoar is forming in protected cool areas.