Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
The avalanche danger assumes only light snow beginning on Monday afternoon. If we see more than 5 cm and it arrives early, then add a bit more yellow to the danger ratings for Monday.
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday
Weather Forecast
Monday: Mainly cloudy with possible flurries – up to 5 cm possible. The freezing level is around 500-800 m. Ridge winds are moderate from the north. Tuesday and Wednesday: Mainly sunny and a few degrees cooler (lows close to -15 and highs near -6). Winds are generally light from the W-NW.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported in the past few days.
Snowpack Summary
Shady and sheltered slopes have around 5-10 cm of fresh low-density snow, with thin wind slabs forming in exposed lee terrain. Sun-exposed slopes likely have a thin sun crust on the surface. The most prominent feature in the snowpack is a thick crust, down 5-30 cm. This crust is supportive all the way to ridge crest and is effectively "capping" the snowpack, keeping riders from tickling any deeper weak layers. There are still weak layers below this crust that we'll continue to monitor, but for now these layers are dormant. We would likely need significant warming and/or heavy loading to re-activate them.
Problems
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.