Avalanche forecast

Kootenay Boundary

Dec 29 – 30, 2013Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Monday: Light snowfall, alpine temperatures -4, freezing level at 1200m, winds moderate to strong from the west.Tuesday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine temperatures -5 and freezing level at 1200m. Winds light to moderate from the west.Wednesday: Mainly dry with broken skies, alpine temperatures -6 with light winds from the west.

Avalanche Summary

Recent reports indicate a few natural avalanches running to 2 in the past 3 days. These were reported as possible windslab releases at the treeline elevation on northerly aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 25 cm of recent new snow in the past 5 days and moderate to strong west and northwest winds have formed pockets of wind slab on lee slopes. A layer of surface hoar is buried 20-25 cm down, and has been reactive with the new snow, soft slab and loose dry avalanches in steeper terrain.A little deeper (between 40 - 60 cm below the surface) you may find a weak layer of surface hoar on sheltered slopes or a crust/facet combo on steep solar aspects. As the load gradually increase and stiffens over top of this layer, it may well become more reactive.In general, snowpack depths are below seasonal average with many slopes below treeline still reported to be below threshold for avalanche activity. A deeper snowpack is likely in the northern part of the region.

Regions covered