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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 9th, 2026–Mar 10th, 2026

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

Regions

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

Uncertainty remains around persistent weak layers.

Avalanches are unlikely where a supportive crust exists—stick to simple terrain where it thins or disappears.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.
  • We are uncertain due to the variability of wind effect on the snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday, small wind-affected pockets remained reactive to rider traffic.

On Sunday, a natural avalanche cycle was reported to size 2.5, likely failing throughout the weekend during the warm and windy weather. Some slabs were suspected of failing on the buried January surface hoar layer.

Snowpack Summary

Strong west winds have redistributed light accumulations of storm snow at higher elevations.

Rain has formed a supportive crust to around 2000 m. Where this crust is absent or unsupportive, concern remains for the multiple persistent weak layers of surface hoar and/or facets/crusts in the upper 1 m of the snowpack

The remaining snowpack has no current layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Monday Night
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 3 cm of snow. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 cm of snow. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 35 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • A hard crust on the snow surface will help strengthen the snowpack, but may cause tough travel conditions.

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.

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.