Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Shady slopes offer the best snow. Isolated wind slabs may exist at high elevations.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny with valley clouds, moderate northwesterly winds, freezing level around 3200 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.MONDAY: Sunny with valley clouds, light southwesterly winds, freezing level around 3500 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.TUESDAY: Partly sunny with valley clouds, light to moderate westerly winds, freezing level dropping to 2500 m with below-freezing temperatures in the valleys.
Avalanche Summary
Small wind slabs were released on Friday by a skier and explosives in alpine lee features. Small loose wet avalanches were observed on steep south-facing slopes on Thursday.
Snowpack Summary
Moderate to strong winds from the west and northwest at higher elevations may be forming new wind slabs in southerly and easterly lee features. These wind slabs may sit above lingering wind slabs from the past week. The warm air temperatures and clear skies from the past few days have caused melting of the surface snow on south-facing slopes. Crusts may form overnight but should melt quickly in the mornings if clear skies prevail. Surface hoar to 30 mm has been observed along with near-surface faceting in the top 20 cm of the snowpack. Beneath this, 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. On ridges, cornices may be weakening with the warm air temperatures.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.
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.