Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Warm alpine air is the continuing trend. Be cautious on steep slopes if the snow feels moist or wet.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods and valley clouds, light westerly winds, freezing level around 3400 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.SUNDAY: Partly cloudy and valley clouds, light westerly winds, freezing level around 3000 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.MONDAY: Mostly sunny and valley clouds, light westerly winds, freezing level around 3400 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.
Avalanche Summary
Small loose wet avalanches were observed on steep south-facing slopes on Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
Warm air temperatures and clear skies have caused melting of the surface snow on south-facing slopes. Crusts may form overnight but should melt quickly in the mornings. The warm weather has settled the snowpack and may be improving the bond to the 30-50 cm deep rain crust from late November, but there are still limited observations of this layer. Lingering wind slabs may exist at higher elevations but are trending towards being unreactive. Cornices may be weakening with the warm air temperatures.
Problems
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.