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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 14th, 2025–Dec 15th, 2025

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

Regions

Clearwater, South Okanagan, Shuswap, North Okanagan.

Danger remains elevated with mild temperatures, snow, and wind once again.

Stick to conservative terrain; uncertainty exists over buried weak layers.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Recent storm snow was triggerable by explosives on Saturday.

In the past five days, two large avalanches have occurred on buried weak layers. A size 3.5 slab was triggered by explosives on a northeast-facing slope at 2200 m near Kelowna, and another large avalanche was reported from the Crowfoot Mountain snowmobile area on a south-facing slope.

Snowpack Summary

High elevations are expected to hold wind affected storm snow, sitting over a thin rain crust. Lower elevations will likely have moist surface snow with Monday's rain.

A mid-November melt–freeze crust with surface hoar and/or faceted grains lies 40–80 cm below the snow surface. Weak, faceted grains can be found at the base of the snowpack, particularly where the snowpack is thin.

Snow depths at treeline vary from about 50 to 100 cm and decrease rapidly at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 1 to 5 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1900 m.

Monday
Cloudy. 4 to 5 mm of rain at treeline. 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 2200 m.

Tuesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 5 to 25 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be cautious of buried obstacles, especially below treeline.
  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where you're most likely to trigger avalanches on deep weak layers.

Problems

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.

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.