Avalanche forecast

Kootenay Boundary

Feb 3 – 4, 2016Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Storm slabs continue to settle and gain strength but the deeply buried persistent weak layer remains a concern.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    3–5
    This persistent weak layer is a classic low probability but high consequence problem. Dig down to see if the surface hoar exists in your area.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    The storm slab may continue to react to human triggers in isolated terrain where it is sitting on a buried surface hoar layer down 20-30 cm. It has not been as reactive where it is bonding to a rain crust.

Confidence

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

Weather Forecast

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries, light westerly winds, and freezing levels rising to around 1100m. Friday: Flurries starting with moderate southwest winds, freezing level near 1300m. Saturday: Cloudy periods with scattered flurries and moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing levels remain around 1300m.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche observations from this region.

Snowpack Summary

A storm slab 30-40 cm deep can be found across most of the region. This new snow lies above a variable old surface buried at the end of January. This interface is being reported as a layer of surface hoar at treeline in the Rossland area. However, in most other parts of the region the new snow sits on a rain crust and/or old wind slabs. A weak layer buried mid-January can be found down 45-50cm, however, snow pit tests indicate that this layer is gaining strength. Deeper in the snowpack, the persistent weak layer that was buried earlier in January is now down 80-120 cm and continues to give sudden planar fractures in snowpack tests under moderate to heavy loads.

Regions covered