Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Warm temperatures and sunshine are the main drivers of avalanche hazard at the moment. Minimize your exposure to large slopes if the snowpack is becoming moist or wet.
Weather Forecast
Thursday: Cloudy with sunny breaks and chance of showers. The freezing level rockets up to 2500 m, maybe even higher. Winds are light from the SW. Friday: A system is poised to cross the region late on Friday or Saturday morning. The day should start with sunny breaks and high freezing levels (3000 m). As the system crosses there will be precipitation, slightly cooler temps, and increasing SW winds. Saturday: Possible showers early, then clearing. The freezing level is near 2000-2200 m and winds are moderate from the SW.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Tuesday. On Sunday and Monday a few size 1-2 storm slabs were reported from the northern part of the region. These were all from NW-NE aspects between around 2000 and 2300 m. One slide on Sunday was reported as a size 2.5 that may have been triggered by a cornice fall and appeared to release on the mid March crust.
Snowpack Summary
Light snow continues to accumulate with approximately 20-30 cm in the past several days. Fluctuating temperatures have resulted in variable snow surfaces (dry, moist, crusty) depending on aspect and elevation. Moderate SW winds have formed fresh wind slabs in lee and cross-loaded terrain at and above treeline. The mid March crust layer is now down 40-60cm. Most recent reports suggest that the overlying snow is bonding well to the crust. However, a snowpack test on Tuesday from the northern part of the region produced an easy sudden "pops" result on a crust/facet interface down 70 cm. This was on a northwest aspect near 2200 m.
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.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.