Avalanche Forecast

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Daytime freezing level at about 1000 metres on Thursday with light northwest winds and occasional flurries. Overnight freezing down to valley bottoms on Friday morning. Winds increasing on Friday from the west with snow beginning in the afternoon. Expect 5-8 cm by Saturday morning with rising freezing levels and strong westerly winds. A cooling trend is forecast on Sunday with a chance of arctic air early in the week.

Some sluffing of the recent surface snow in steep terrain was reported on Sunday from the Kootenay Pass area. Reports suggest that there is enough snow for avalanches at treeline and in the alpine. Wind slabs may have formed on Sunday night. In parts of the region where they exist, these slabs will likely be stiffest and most reactive in higher elevation wind loaded areas. Due to the current lack of regular observations, we cannot yet issue avalanche problems or danger ratings for the region. If you are out in the mountains, please consider contributing to the Mountain Information Network and help us improve the forecast.

Early season snowpack observations are still very limited in the region, but the threshold for avalanches has been exceeded at treeline and in the alpine. The snowpack depth is reported to be 120-150cm at treeline. Remote weather data and recent Mountain Information Network posts from the Kootenay Pass area suggest wind slabs may exist on lee slopes just below ridge crest; however, we are unsure of the reactivity or the distribution of the problem throughout the region. A thick crust from mid-November is down around 70cm and recent reports suggest the layer is generally well bonded to the adjacent snow. Below this crust layer the snowpack is reported to be moist or wet to the ground at treeline elevation.