Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

WEDNESDAY NIGHT - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries / east wind, 20-40 km/h / alpine low temperature near -5 THURSDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / east wind, 10-20 km/h / alpine high temperature near 0 / freezing level 2000 mFRIDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / light northeast winds / alpine high temperature near +2 / freezing level 2100 mSATURDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / light south winds / alpine high temperature near +2 / freezing level 2200 m

On Wednesday, there were reports of a few size 1 loose wet avalanches in the Fernie area.On Sunday, there was a report near Fernie of a skier triggered, size 2.5 wet slab avalanche that began as a loose wet avalanche and then gathered mass which ran much further than expected through low angle terrain.

The snow surface is likely a crust everywhere but high elevation, north facing terrain. This crust will likely break down (melt) during the day as temperatures rise and the sun comes out. The recent prolonged warm spell has transitioned the snowpack on sun exposed slopes in the alpine and all aspects at treeline and below towards being moist or wet throughout, during the heat of the day. In these areas that have entered spring conditions, the avalanche hazard will fluctuate greatly depending on the strength of the overnight freeze and how quickly the snowpack is warmed up each day. Check out this guide to managing avalanche hazard during spring conditions HERE.In areas that remained more sheltered from the heat, like northerly aspects in the alpine, there may still be a dry snowpack with a well settled slab sitting on weak facets (sugary snow). Human triggering of persistent slabs on this layer may still be possible; especially in rocky alpine terrain with a shallow or highly variable depth snowpack.