Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Boundary, Kootenay Pass, Moyie, Norns, Rossland, South Okanagan, Ymir.
Warming temperatures and solar input will greatly impact the avalanche hazard today.
Storm slabs may remain reactive.
Seek out northerly slopes with low overhead hazards for the best and safest riding.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Tuesday's avalanche activity was created from storm slabs and wind slabs. Most of these were natural and reached up to size 2.5. They could be found on all aspects and occurred mostly at higher elevations. Natural wind slab avalanches that reached up to size 3 could be found at higher elevations and on all aspects as well but were predominantly on the north to northeast aspects.
Snowpack Summary
The storm slabs, 30 to 50 cm thick, overlie a variety of surfaces, which include surface hoar, 3 to 5 mm, on shady slopes at all elevations, wind-affected surfaces at treeline and above, and sun crust on sunny aspects. Storm snow was accompanied by strong south winds. Expect wind slab formation at higher elevations.
A layer of surface hoar or sun crust, aspect dependent, that was formed in mid-February can be found down 80 to 110 cm.
The lower snowpack includes a layer of weak sugary facets near the ground. These facets are slowly gaining strength and no recent avalanches have been reported on this layer. However, we continue to track the layer and watch for any signs of it becoming active.
Weather Summary
Wednesday Night
Clearing, no accumulation, winds northwest 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C.
Thursday
Mostly sunny with cloudy periods, no accumulation, winds variable and light, treeline temperatures -5 to 0 °C with freezing levels up to 1600 m.
Friday
Mostly sunny, no accumulation, winds southeast 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -4 to 0 °C with freezing levels getting up to 1700 m.
Saturday
Mostly sunny, no accumulation, winds south 10 km/h, freezing levels possibly getting up to 1900 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
- Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
- Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
- A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
- Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
A storm from earlier in the week brought us 30 to 50cm of snow. This storm slab problem may remain reactive for longer than expected due to the uncertainty of how this new snow is binding with old surfaces.
It may seem calm now but the storm brought with it moderate to strong southwest winds. Expect to find deep deposits of wid transported snow.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5
Loose Wet
Expect natural wet loose avalanches on steep sunny aspects when the sun comes out.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West, West.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5
Cornices
Cornices have been building all season. Warm temperatures and solar input may cause them to fail.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3