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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 16th, 2025–Dec 17th, 2025

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Purcells, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, Crawford, Dogtooth, St. Mary, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Kokanee, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

Storm snow combined with strong winds will build new slabs over a variety of surfaces, keeping avalanche hazard elevated.

Avoid exposure to avalanche terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Uncertainty is due to difficult to forecast freezing levels.
  • Recent weather patterns have resulted in a high degree of snowpack variability within the region.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous large avalanches were reported on Monday from heavy snow, wind and rain. Avalanches are expected to fail on mid storm layers and buried weak layers, producing large avalanches as seen in the last storm cycle.

On Wednesday, natural activity is expected with this pulse of snow and wind.

Snowpack Summary

Roughly 20–30 cm of storm snow is expected to accumulate by Wednesday afternoon. This storm snow, coupled with strong southwest winds, will form new storm slabs over various surfaces—crusts at lower elevations and wind-affected, settled snow at upper elevations.

We continue to track two layers in the mid and lower snowpack:

• A surface hoar layer formed in early December, now buried 100–150 cm deep.

• A mid-November crust buried 100–180 cm deep, with faceted snow above it.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night
Cloudy. Up to 25 cm overnight, with highest amounts southeast of Revelstoke. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Wednesday
Cloudy. 7 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 20 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Friday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 7 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Avoid shallow snowpack areas, rocky outcrops, and steep terrain where triggering is most likely.

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.