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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 22nd, 2025–Feb 23rd, 2025

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie.

Dangerous avalanche conditions are developing as new snow and rain accumulates throughout the storm.

Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No recent slab avalanches have been reported, however, whumpfing which is a strong sign of unstable snow, was reported on Thursday. Check out the MIN report. Additionally, over the last few days, several small (size 1 to 1.5) natural and human-triggered dry loose avalanches were reported running in steep terrain.

Looking forward, we expect avalanche activity to rapidly increase as snow starts to accumulate along with strong winds and warming over the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

10 to 15 cm of new storm snow accompanied by southerly winds has built sensitive storm slabs. An additional 15 to 30 cm is forecast to fall overnight and through Sunday, which will fall as rain at lower elevations. A layer of surface hoar or thin crust from mid-February is currently buried 20 to 40 cm deep. Beneath that, 20 to 60 cm of faceted snow sits atop another surface hoar or crust layer buried in late January. Both of these weak layers are a concern, with potential for storm slabs to step down to them. The remaining snowpack is generally well-settled.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow, possible rain below 1400 m. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 1900 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow, possible rain below 1700 m. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

Monday

Mostly sunny. 25 to 35 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow, possible rain below 1200 m. 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 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 slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.
  • As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.

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.