Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bonnington, Flathead, Kootenay Boundary, Kootenay Pass, Lizard, Lizard-Flathead, Moyie, Norns, Rossland, Ymir.
Human-triggered deep slab avalanches remain possible. Use extra caution in higher elevation terrain with shallow, variable snowpacks.
Read more about this winter's widespread persistent weak layers in our recent Forecasters Blog
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
A few large natural avalanches were reported on Thursday, in the west of the region. They occurred in steep, shallow, rocky terrain features above 2000 m, failing on deep persistent layers.
Otherwise now new, significant avalanche activity has been reported.
Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
The upper snowpack continues to settle and bond with mild temperatures. A thick, supportive melt-freeze crust is buried by 30 to 60 cm and is present up to roughly 2000 m elevation. Below the crust, the mid-snowpack is generally well consolidated with no layers of concern. A layer buried in November consisting of facets, surface hoar, and/or a crust remains a concern, near the base of the snowpack.
Treeline snow depths are roughly 150 to 200 cm.
Weather Summary
Saturday night
Mostly cloudy, with isolated flurries and trace amounts of snow. Light to moderate southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C.
Sunday
Cloudy with light snow, 2 to 5 cm. Light to moderate southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C. Freezing levels 1000 m.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with flurries, 0 to 5 cm. Light southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C. Freezing levels 1000 m.
Tuesday
Mix of sun and cloud, no precipitation. Light southerly winds. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 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.
- Don't let the desire for deep powder pull you into high consequence terrain.
- Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Deep Persistent Slabs
Human triggering of deep weak layers near the base of the snowpack remains a concern at higher elevations. Especially in terrain with shallow, variable snowpacks. At lower elevations the supportive melt-freeze crust is providing a bridging effect, making it more difficult to trigger deeper layers.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 2 - 3.5