Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 31st, 2025–Apr 1st, 2025

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie, St. Mary, Kokanee.

Surface conditions and recent precipitation amounts are variable. Verify conditions as you travel.

Back off steep slopes if you find moist surface snow or no supportive crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Small wet loose avalanches continue to be triggered by skiers in steep terrain. Some small storm slab avalanches have also been reported on high north facing terrain where dry snow still remains.

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack is highly variable. A crust exists on or near the surface on all aspects below treeline and on all sun exposed slopes. On north aspects, Up to 15 cm of snow has buried a melt-freeze crust from late March that increases in thickness as you gain elevation. Below these crusts, the upper snowpack is moist.

Several week layers from early March, mid February and late January can be found in the mid and lower snowpack.

Weather Summary

Precipitation amounts over the next 24hrs could be highly variable due to convection.

Monday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with trace amounts of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with up to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
Make observations and continually assess conditions as you travel.

Problems

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.

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.

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.