Avalanche Forecast

High -

Sunday: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries and a trace to 5 cm of new snow. Light southwest winds. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine temperatures of -5.Monday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Light south winds. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine temperatures of -5.Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light southwest winds. Freezing level to 1700 metres with alpine temperatures of -4.

Reports from Friday showed skier traffic and explosives triggering storm slabs and wind slabs to Size 1.5 in various areas of the region. Crown fractures reached up to 35 cm. Loose wet avalanches were observed running naturally out of steep terrain to Size 1.5 as well.Reports from Thursday showed storm slabs releasing from Size 1.5-2 with explosives triggers in the Revelstoke area. Loose wet avalanches were observed running from Size 1.5-2 in steep terrain with ski cutting and explosives. Slab crown fractures ranged from 10-60 cm and north to northeast aspects saw the majority of reported activity.Reports from Wednesday included one observation of a natural Size 2.5 wet slab that was triggered by a smaller loose wet avalanche.Several natural cornice falls up to Size 3.5 were reported on Tuesday in the Monashees and the Selkikrks.

Roughly 30-40 cm of new snow has formed fresh storm slabs on the surface after a series of storms over the end of the week. These new storm slabs developed above a mix of old surfaces that include melt-freeze crusts at treeline and below and on solar aspects in the alpine. In addition to storm slab formation, the new snow has also contributed to fragile new cornice growth. The February weak layers are now down about 170-220 cm and the deep mid-December facet layer and November rain crust both still linger near the bottom of the snowpack. These deep weak layers produced large avalanches with cornice falls and other heavy triggers in late March. They remain a concern and may be more likely to fail on southerly aspects during periods of strong solar radiation.