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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 21st, 2024–Mar 22nd, 2024

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie, St. Mary, Kokanee, Valhalla.

Cooling temperatures are reducing the likelihood of triggering large persistent slab avalanches.

Avoid steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin-to-thick snowpack.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported in this region on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

0 to 5 cm of new snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces.

A weak layer of surface hoar is down 40-60 cm in isolated, sheltered areas.

A widespread crust with sugary facets above is buried 80-200 cm deep. Both of these layers remain primary concerns for triggering large persistent slab avalanches.

Weather Summary

Thursday night

Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Friday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Saturday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Sunday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
  • Cornice failure may trigger large 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.