Kootenay Boundary

The early January surface hoar layer is still alive and well at all elevations. Careful investigation of the snowpack and conservative terrain use continue to be critical. Check out the new forecaster blog at avalanche.ca/blogs or click here.

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

As this weekends storm exits the interior regions we may squeeze out a few more cm of snow by Monday morning. No additional snow is expected Monday to Wednesday. Freezing levels should remain at or near valley bottom, though their is some disagreement in the models regarding freezing levels. Ridgetop winds are expected to stay in the light to moderate range out of the southwest. For additional weather information see avalanche.ca/weather

Over the weekend we had limited observations of new avalanches. However, we anticipate continued human triggering of persistent slab avalanches on the surface hoar layer that was buried in early January.

10-15 cm of new snow with moderate winds have created fresh wind slabs sitting on top of recent snow surfaces on lee features in the alpine. A 40-60 cm persistent slab overlays a variety of surfaces including large surface hoar, sun crusts, and facets. This slab is ripe for human triggers.  The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and strong.