Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Convective flurries on Monday will result in highly variable snow accumulations throughout the region. Pay close attention to how much snow fell in you area, and choose terrain accordingly.
Confidence
Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday
Weather Forecast
Mainly clear skies are expected for the forecast period as a dry ridge rebuilds. Ridge top winds are expected to remain generally moderate from the northwest. Freezing levels are forecast to sit at valley bottom for Tuesday, and then rise to about 1300m on Wednesday and Thursday.
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.