Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Some precipitation is on the horizon for Wednesday/Thursday. Danger could be a little higher if we see more rain than forecast.
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Check out the weather tab above for the detailed synopsis.Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with a chance of showers or flurries around 5-10 mm/cm. The freezing level starts near 2500 m and should lower to 2000 m by the end of the day. Winds are light or moderate from the SW. Thursday: Mainly cloudy with showers or flurries early. The freezing level is steady around 2000-2200 m and winds are light or moderate from the SW. Friday: Sun and cloud. The freezing level spikes to 3000 m and winds are light.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported in the past several days.
Snowpack Summary
Variable snow surface consists of wind-affected snow or wind-scoured crusts in exposed alpine areas, moist snow or sun crust on sun-exposed slopes, or 5-10cm of dry snow overlying an old crust in shady and sheltered areas. At higher elevations, recent winds may have built thin wind slabs in leeward features. Most elevations are undergoing daily springtime melt-freeze cycles. The most prominent feature in the snowpack is the thick late-February crust, down 5-20 cm. This crust is supportive all the way to ridge crest and is effectively "capping" the snowpack, keeping riders from stressing any deeper weak layers. There are still weak layers below this crust that we'll continue to monitor, but for now these layers are dormant. We would likely need significant warming and/or heavy loading to re-activate them.
Problems
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.