Avalanche forecast

Kootenay Boundary

Jan 28 – 29, 2012Avalanche Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 15 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
Open full map

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–5
    Continued snowfall and forecast strong southwest winds winds will set up new wind slabs on the lee of exposed features at treeline and in the alpine

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Forecast snow will add to the current storm slab problem. Watch for storm slabs on steeper, unsupported features

Confidence

Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain on Sunday

Weather Forecast

Sunday: Moderate snowfall (about 15cm) / strong southwest winds / freezing levels reaching 1300mMonday: Moderate snowfall in the early morning decreasing to light amounts in the afternoon / moderate to strong southwest winds / freezing level at 1000mTuesday: light flurries / light to moderate southwest winds / freezing level at 1100mConfidence is low to fair on snowfall amounts for sunday.

Avalanche Summary

Windslab avalanches to size 1.5 were observed in the region over the last 24 hours.

Snowpack Summary

Significant snowfall and strong to extreme winds earlier in the week created extensive windslabs in the region. In some parts of the region this windslab is sitting on a freezing rain crust that developed on Tuesday morning. Although it's reasonable to think that these windslabs have started to strengthen somewhat, the combination of more recent light snowfall and moderate winds have continued to create fresher windslabs at ridge top. It should also be said that snowfall accumulations over the past few days have been quite variable throughout the region with with 24hr snowfall amounts on Thursday morning ranging from 2cm to 29cm. Reactivity on the aforementioned crust (which sits about 25cm below the surface in most wind-neutral areas) may develop with increased load forecast for Sunday. A layer of concern deeper in the snowpack is a surface hoar/facet layer from mid-December. This layer has become less of a concern in the vast majority of locations; however, in the Bonnington Range it is still on the radar of backcountry travelers as the last round of deep activity was only a week ago. This is a lingering layer of concern that reflects low probability but high consequence. Snowpack depths in the region are around 240 cm.

Regions covered