Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Recent new snow will take a few days to settle and bond. The temperature is forecast to drop as cold air comes in from the north.
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY Night: Mainly cloudy, light southwest wind, alpine temperature -12 C.SUNDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries, light east wind, alpine temperature -13 C.MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light east wind, alpine temperature -19 C.TUESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light east wind, alpine temperature -12 C.
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Saturday include several natural size 1.5-2 storm slab avalanches and explosives triggered size 2-2.5 storm slab avalanches on southerly and northerly aspects up to 2200m.
Snowpack Summary
10-30 cm of new snow sits on variety of snow surfaces, which may include wind crust in wind exposed areas, sun crust on solar aspects to mountain top and weak feathery surface hoar in sheltered and shady areas. 40-60 cm below the snow surface, expect to find another crust on south aspects and another layer of feathery surface hoar crystals in sheltered and shaded areas. This deeper layer of surface hoar may be most reactive at treeline elevations on shady aspects. The remainder of the snowpack is generally well-settled and strong in most locations.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.
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.