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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2025–Dec 18th, 2025

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
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.
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.

New snow combined with strong winds will build new slabs over a variety of surfaces and may be touchy where they are building over a crust.

Select lower angle slopes, while storm snow settles.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Uncertainty is due to how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous large storm slab avalanches were reported near Revelstoke on Wednesday, both human and explosive triggered. Mostly running on the most recent crust.

With more storm snow and wind throughout the day we expect to see avalanche activity continue.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 20 cm of new storm snow is expected to accumulate throughout the day bringing storm snow totals to 30 to 50 cm with the highest amounts southeast of Revelstoke.

This storm snow, coupled with strong southwest winds, will continue to form 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. Reactivity of these layers now down over 100 cm is uncertain. They may remain reactive in high alpine terrain where no supportive crust is present.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

Thursday
Cloudy. 5 to 20 cm of snow. 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level 700 m.

Friday
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 20 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level 700 m.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 20 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 100 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.

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.