South Okanagan

Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain. If triggered, wind slabs may slide easily on an underlying crust.

Moderate

• Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Explosive control work on north to east aspects in the alpine on Friday produced wind slab avalanches up to size 2, some stepping down 50 cm deep to the November crust.

20 to 40 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed by wind over a prominent crust from mid December that extends up to 2200 m. Below this, a couple other crust layers may exist in the upper snowpack.

A faceted crust from mid November can be found in the mid snowpack. Snowpack depth is around 1 m, tapering with elevation below 1500 m.

Saturday Night
Cloudy. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

Sunday
Cloudy. 2 to 4 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Monday
Mix of sun and clouds. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
• Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been affected by wind.
• Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.