Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
The avalanche danger trends upward with the appearance of the sun and afternoon warming. The danger is rated for the warmest part of the day.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
WEDNESDAY Night: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, accumulation up to 5 cm / moderate east wind / alpine temperature -6 C / freezing level 1000 mTHURSDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods / light southeast wind / alpine temperature -2 C / freezing level 1700 mFRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud / light to moderate north wind / alpine temperature -1 C / freezing level 2000 mSATURDAY: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries / light southwest wind / alpine temperature 3 C / freezing level 2100 m
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday and Wednesday there were reports of skier triggered thin wind slabs to size 1.
Snowpack Summary
At upper elevations, up to 10 cm of new snow sits on a melt-freeze crust or moist snow. Some of this has been redistributed by southwesterly winds which may have formed isolated thin wind slabs. At lower elevations, expect to see a supportive crust on or near the surface if there is a good overnight freeze. This crust sits above a largely moist or wet snowpack.There are two crusts of note in the upper snowpack. The first crust is down 20 to 30 cm and loose wet avalanches have recently slid on this interface. The deeper one down 60 to 95 cm has produced easy shears in test profiles. Avalanches on this interface are unlikely, but possible.
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.
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.