Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

The weather pattern has finally shifted as a surface low moves onto the Interior bringing new snow through the weekend. Saturday: Snow amounts 10-20 cm with light- gusting strong southwest winds. Alpine temperatures near -4 and freezing levels 1200 m. Sunday: Snow amounts up to 20 cm with strong southwest winds. Alpine temperatures -3 and freezing levels 1300 m.Monday: Snow accumulations up to 20 cm with light southwest winds. Alpine temperatures near -3.

No new avalanche observations were reported on Thursday. New building storm slabs will likely have a poor bond to the old snow surfaces and be reactive through the weekend, potentially stepping down and initiating deep persistent slabs.

New snow has buried a variety of old snow surfaces including stiff wind slab or wind effected snow at upper elevations, sun crust on steep southerly slopes and surface hoar in sheltered areas. Below the surface, 50-65 cm of settled snow now sits above an interface that was buried in mid-January. The interface is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and/or sun crusts and the strength of the bond is reportedly variable. Recent snowpack tests have shown sudden results on that interface. Areas with a shallower snowpack (less than 150 cm) have a generally weak snowpack structure with sugary facets near the ground. This includes shallow alpine slopes and most of the Rossland range. These deeper weaknesses warrant monitoring and create a complicating picture. It may be a low probability that you would trigger an avalanche that failed on these basal facets, however; the consequences could be detrimental. These layers may be unreactive but they could reawaken with more snow load.