Avalanche Forecast

High

No new avalanches have been reported in the region since last Sunday, when one large (size 2) wind slab and a few small ones were triggered with explosives near Kelowna.

A few small wind slabs and one large were also reported last Saturday in the south of the region. These were both rider-triggered and naturally occurring.

Light recent snow amounts have been battered by alternating southerly and northerly winds, leading to widespread wind-affected surfaces in exposed terrain. Supportive sun crust may be found on south aspects.

There is a thin rain crust below 1500 m that is buried around 30 cm deep. Some spots have small surface hoar crystals with this crust, but it hasn't produced any avalanches in the region.

A crust buried in early December is 50 to 85 cm deep. In some places there are weak facets above the crust, but it currently isn't a concern.

The mid and lower snowpack are otherwise strong and well-settled.

The snowpack is 100-150 cm deep at treeline.

Saturday Night

Mainly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline low temperature -13 °C.

Sunday

Becoming sunny. 20 to 25 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -12 °C.

Monday

Mainly sunny. 10 to 15 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature around -9 °C with a possible temperature inversion.

Tuesday

Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing less than 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 30 km/h variable, mainly west ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature around -8 °C with temperature inversion breaking down.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• The snowpack is generally stable; it may be appropriate to step out into more complex terrain.
• Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.