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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 23rd, 2024–Feb 24th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

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

A buried crust associated with faceted snow remains a concern. Carefully assess steep lines for signs of instability.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several skier-triggered avalanches (size 1 to 2) have been reported since Wednesday. These avalanches have failed on a crust/facet combination down roughly 30 to 40 cm from the surface, in steep treeline and alpine terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 20 cm of recent heavy, dense snow has buried various old surfaces, including sun crusts on south-facing slopes and hard previously wind-affected surfaces in exposed terrain. Snow surfaces remain generally moist below treeline.

A widespread crust formed in early February exists down roughly 30 to 50 cm. In many areas, small, weak faceted grains have formed just above or below this crust.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 0 to 15 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Mix of sun and cloud with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

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.