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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 18th, 2026–Mar 19th, 2026

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Purcells, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, St. Mary, Kokanee, Retallack, Valhalla.

Avoid avalanche terrain and exposure to overhead avalanche terrain.

Heavy rain and high freezing levels will continue to create very dangerous conditions.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how persistent slabs will react to the forecast weather.
  • We are uncertain about forecast rain amounts.

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, a natural wet avalanche cycle was reported (up to size 2) near London Ridge at treeline and below.

On Tuesday, storm slabs were reactive to both natural and rider-triggered at treeline from all aspects throughout the region.

Looking ahead, natural avalanches are expected at all elevations due to continuous rain and elevated freezing levels.

Snowpack Summary

High freezing levels and steady rain are continuing to weaken the top 20 to 50 cm of surface snow of variable surface conditions, including crust, wind-affected snow and recent storm snow.

A crust, buried in early March, is down 30 to 50 cm on all aspects. The thickness of the crust depends on elevation (1 to 10 cm).

At upper elevations, where the crust is thinner or not present, problematic persistent slabs linger. They consist of multiple buried weak layers of surface hoar and/or crusts in the top 120 cm of the snowpack.

The mid/lower snowpack is well settled and strong in most areas.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night
Cloudy. 5 to 15 mm of rain at treeline. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Thursday
Cloudy. 10 to 20 mm of rain at treeline. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Friday
Cloudy. 20 to 35 mm of rain at treeline. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Saturday
Cloudy. 1 to 2 cm of snow at treeline. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
  • Wet avalanche activity may step down to deeply buried persistent weak layers at lower elevations.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
  • Keep in mind that the high density of wet avalanches can make them destructive.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Wet Slabs

Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.