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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 4th, 2025–Mar 5th, 2025

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

Regions

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

New snow & wind may form reactive wind slabs near ridgetops.

Be especially cautious on high north-facing slopes, and on sunny slopes during warming.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Sun: Numerous naturally triggered size 1-2 wet loose avalanches occurred across the region.

Sat: A natural size 3 persistent slab was seen on Evening Ridge (photo below). Several wet loose and wet slabs also occurred in the region.

Fri: Explosives control produced a size 3 persistent slab on a northwest-facing feature at 2100 m

Looking forward: Fresh wind slabs may be reactive and have potential to step down to deeper layers on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 15 cm of new snow is expected to fall overnight and through Wednesday. Southwesterly winds may build fresh and reactive wind slabs on lee north and easterly slopes. The new snow will be falling on a widespread melt-freeze crust that exists everywhere but high north-facing slopes.

Two concerning weak layers are present in the mid snowpack: facets/surface hoar or a crust from mid-February buried 40-60 cm, and faceted snow/surface hoar/crust from late January buried 60-90 cm. These layers were active during the warm-up and are most concerning at upper elevations, where a thick and supportive crust under the new snow hasn't stabilized the snowpack.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1500 m, then falling to valley bottom. Treeline temperature low of -6 °C.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 5 to 15 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1500 m. Treeline temperatures around -4 °C.

Thursday

Sunny. 20 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1700 m. Treeline temperature around -2 °C.

Friday

Sunny. 15 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1900 m. Treeline temperature around 0 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded features, especially near ridge crests, rollovers, and in steep terrain.
  • Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind-loaded snow.

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.

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.

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.