Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2026–Mar 16th, 2026

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.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Purcells, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Crawford, Kokanee.

Snow is available for transport and strong wind speeds are in the forecast.

New wind slabs will be building over older wind slabs and may be found is atypical terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday, numerous wind slab avalanche were reported. These avalanches were between size 1 to 2 and were naturally and rider triggered.

Snowpack Summary

Roughly 30 to 50 cm of recently accumulated snow and strong variable winds have formed wind slabs in lee terrain features at treeline and above. As winds switch to a more prevailing direction expect fresh wind slabs to form.

Below this is a 1 to 10 cm thick crust on all aspects. The thickness of the crust depends on elevation.

At upper elevations, where the crust is thinner or not present, it may still be possible to trigger persistent slabs on multiple buried weak layers of surface hoar and/or crusts in the top 120 cm of the snowpack.

The mid/lower snowpack is well settled and strong in most areas.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Monday
Cloudy. 2 to 10 cm of snow. 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 mm of mixed precipitation at treeline. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 15 to 20 mm of rain at treeline. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches.
Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind-exposed terrain.
Recent wind has varied in direction, so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.

Problems

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.

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.