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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 19th, 2025–Feb 20th, 2025

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie.

Watch for persistent slabs to become more reactive as the temperature continues to gradually rise in the next few days.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Monday and Tuesday several small (size 1 to 1.5) natural and human triggered dry loose avalanches were reported running in steep terrain. A size 1.5 natural persistent slab was reported on a north aspect in the alpine. A few large (size 2) explosives triggered wind slabs running on southerly aspects in the alpine were reported in Kootenay Pass.

Snowpack Summary

10 to 20 cm of recent snow sits on a layer of surface hoar from the middle of February, or a thin sun crust on steep south-facing slopes.

Below that, 20 to 60 cm of faceted snow overlies a layer of surface hoar buried in late January. It is most reactive where a slab has formed above this layer. You can read more about slabs in this blog.

The lower snowpack is generally well settled.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 3 to 5 cm of snow. 25 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 30 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Approach steep and open slopes at and below treeline cautiously, as buried surface hoar may exist.
  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches.
  • Loose avalanches may step down to deeper layers, resulting in larger 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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.