South Columbia

Danger ratings are based on the higher forecast amounts of snow fall and strong winds. The south of the region may see less snow; however, if you do see more than 30cm of new snow, the danger is HIGH and it's best to avoid all avalanche terrain.

Low - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Tuesday

Snow and strong winds on Tuesday; clearing up Wednesday. TUESDAY: Snow (15-25cm). Moderate to strong south / west winds 30-70 Km/hr. Freezing level rising to 1600 metres with alpine high temperatures around -5. WEDNESDAY: Sunny with cloudy breaks and isolated convective flurries. Moderate northwest winds 30-45 Km/hr. Freezing level to 1400 metres with alpine high temperatures around -7.THURSDAY: Cloudy with flurries. Winds becoming light, west. Freezing level 1400 metres with alpine high temperatures of -5.

On Monday, backcountry skiers triggered a size 2 wind slab on a northeast aspect near 2050m. The slab's thickness varied from 40-60cm.On Sunday several natural and skier-triggered storm and wind slabs to size 2 were reported, on southeast through northeast aspects between 1900m and 2600m. Some ran on the March 18th layer, buried 25cm in that location.On Saturday we received reports of several wind slabs and storm slabs to size 2.5, mostly on northerly aspects above 2200m. Also on Saturday, a wet loose size 1.5 avalanche injured a skier in Glacier National Park on a west aspect near 2000m.

New snow fall amounts into Monday range from 7-11 cm. Winds have been moderate from the east through southwest, creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) slopes. Wind slabs from late last week (thanks to south / east winds) remained reactive throughout the weekend on immediate lee features and steep roll-overs in exposed locations. Isolated pockets of surface hoar (buried March 18th) have been reported between old storm snow layers on shaded aspects at higher elevations and may be found approximately 30-45 cm below the surface. New snow amounts taper with elevation and below 1900 m, reduced accumulations have buried a supportive crust on all aspects. Deeper persistent weak layers from January and December are generally considered dormant, but could wake up with a surface avalanche stepping down, large cornice fall, or a human trigger in a shallow or variable-depth snowpack area. These layers consist of sun crust, surface hoar and/or facets.