Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Avalanche danger is lower than posted in areas with minimal recent snow.
Confidence
Poor - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain for the entire period
Weather Forecast
Sunday: Moderate to strong W winds. Light to moderate snow, starting late in the day. Alpine temperature around -4.Monday: Light to moderate NW winds. Light snow. Alpine temperature around -8.Tuesday: Light SW winds. Light snow. Alpine temperature around -11.
Avalanche Summary
A natural cycle to size 2.5 occurred overnight Friday. Explosives testing produced several more slabs to size 2.5 around treeline elevations on Saturday. These avalanches either failed within the storm snow or on a crust below the storm snow.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 55 cm snow now overlies weak interfaces buried in mid-February (mainly surface hoar/ sun crust layers). The storm slab above these interfaces has the potential for wide propagations and surprisingly large avalanches, especially where winds have shifted the snow into slabs in the lee of terrain breaks. Older snowpack weaknesses buried in the upper snowpack (Feb 4th and Jan 23 surface hoar/facet/sun crust layers) are still being tracked by professionals. There is the potential for triggering one of these deeper layers with a large trigger like an avalanche in motion, or from a thin-spot trigger point. The lower snowpack is generally well settled.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.