Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Direct sun & warmth are currently the primary drivers of hazard and the weather forecast indicates that warm temperatures will persist through Friday. Minimize your exposure to large slopes if the snowpack is becoming moist or wet.
Confidence
Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain on Friday
Weather Forecast
Friday: Cloud cover building through the day, light snow starting in the afternoon. Freezing level around 2100 m, southwesterly ridgetop winds increasing from light in the morning to around 40 km/h in the afternoon. Overnight between 4pm Friday and 4am Saturday: 5-10 cm new snow expected. Saturday: A further 5 cm or so new snow above 1500 m, with rain below that. Ridgetop winds up to 60 km/h from the southwest. Sunday: Cloudy with some sunshine. Flurries possible. Freezing level around 1500 m. Ridgetop winds around 40 km/h from the west.
Avalanche Summary
Loose wet avalanches to size 1.5 have been reported in this region recently. This kind of activity is likely to continue through Friday, although the intensity may diminish a little bit on account of less solar radiation and slightly cooler temperatures. Observations are becoming more limited as we enter into spring. If you're out in the mountains, please consider posting your observations to our webpage using the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Melt-freeze surface conditions exist on sun-exposed slopes. On shaded slopes, 10-20cm of recent snow overlies a thick supportive melt-freeze crust. At higher elevations these accumulations may have been blown around by variable winds and thin wind slabs may exist on a variety of aspects. The mid-March crust/facet complex is buried around 50cm below the surface. This layer is generally considered dormant, although it could be reactivated in isolated terrain by prolonged warm temperatures. The mid and lower snowpack are strong and well settled.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.