South Rockies

We would love more observations to make our forecast better! Post yours to the MIN.

Low - Due to the number of field observations

An unsettled flow continues to affect the southern part of the province, bringing flurries and cold temperatures. Models disagree on snowfall amounts, but generally show light amounts. Winds are generally light, but may increase with the passage of frontal systems. The freezing level stays near surface. For more details check out https://avalanche.ca/weather.

Wind slabs were reported to have developed at all elevations on Monday, but at the time of writing no avalanches have been reported.

The series of recent storms has left us with around 50-80 cm new snow. Strong to extreme SW winds on Sunday created wind slabs at all elevations, which may now be buried by Sunday night's bonus snowfall. Recent storm snow overlies a hard rain crust. A weak layer from early December consisting of crust, surface hoar, and/or facets and is typically down around a metre. Around 20-30 cm below this interface is a rain crust from mid-Nov with a thick layer of facets below it. Both the early-Dec and mid-Nov layers are probably being capped at treeline and below by the more recent rain crust layer. However, these layers may still be reactive to heavy triggers such as cornices or smaller avalanches stepping down.