Avalanche Forecast

Low - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Sunday

Sunday: 5-20cm of new snow / Moderate to strong (south) west winds / Freezing level near 1000mMonday: Isolated flurries (5cm possible) / Light westerly winds / Freezing level around 1400mTuesday: Flurries (5-10 cm possible) / Moderate west winds / Freezing level around 1200mNote: Confidence is low for forecast wind values and precipitation amounts on Sunday.

On Friday, natural and human triggered storm slab avalanches were reported, especially in areas which saw locally intense snowfall amounts in the afternoon. Looking forward, expect newly formed wind slabs and the persistent slabs beneath them to remain reactive to human triggers with the potential for very large and destructive avalanches.

Storm snow totals over the past two days are approximately 15-30cm. Winds were gusting moderate at times and created fresh wind slabs on a wide range of aspects at upper elevations. Critical instabilities are buried well below the surface: See this video for a summary of conditions near Nelson. A mixture of weak surface hoar and/or a crust from mid-January is buried beneath all the storm snow at 80-110cm deep. Numerous recent avalanches to size 2.5 have been reported on this layer and large, destructive avalanches at this interface remain a concern.Below this layer lies a second crust/surface hoar interface buried early-January that is now 110-130 cm deep. Several recent avalanches have stepped down to this layer.The mid-December surface hoar layer is buried 120-150 cm below the surface. This layer has continued to produce step down releases and "sudden" test results. It is most pronounced at tree line, but is also present below tree line .