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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 4th, 2026–Mar 5th, 2026

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Purcells, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, St. Mary, Kokanee, Valhalla, Whatshan.

New snow combined with reactive, persistent weak layers is creating dangerous conditions

Stick to low-angle slopes and avoid exposing yourself to steep terrain from above

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, several size 1 to 1.5 persistent slabs were triggered by skiers across the region, and whumpfing was reported in many areas.

Over the weekend and through Monday, many large, persistent avalanches were triggered by people, including remotely. Some failed naturally.

Check out these MIN reports for some examples:

Mar 1 MIN: A very close call

Feb 28 MIN: A fatal accident occurred involving two sledders.

Feb 27 MIN: Remote triggered from 50 m away

Snowpack Summary

5 to 20 cm of new snow from Wednesday, fell as rain below approx 1500 m. Up to 10 cm more may fall in the northern parts of the region on Thursday. Areas that received enough new snow have reactive new storm slabs, which in some cases are resting on a new surface hoar layer. In most areas, the snow is overlying a crust except for shady high-elevation terrain, where the crust is absent.

In the top 100 cm of the snowpack, there are multiple concerning persistent weak layers of surface hoar and/or facets/crusts. The majority of the recent large and destructive avalanches occurred on well-preserved surface hoar in sheltered areas at treeline and below.

The remaining snowpack has no current layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. 0 to 2 cm of snow. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. 0 to 10 cm of snow. Highest amounts for the northern regions. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Friday
Mix of sun and clouds. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 8 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.



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 slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Be aware of the potential for remote triggering and large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.
  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

Problems

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.