Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

A series of storms is pushing onto the coast in quick succession over the next few days, with a little spill over into the Purcells. Disagreement between weather forecast models is making it hard to pin down specifics, but you can expect mainly light snow, south to south-west winds and freezing levels rising to around 1500 m. For more details check out https://avalanche.ca/weather.

No new avalanche activity has been reported.

Recent light snow is building up over a variety of old surfaces including wind-stripped north aspects, hard wind slabs, facets, sun crusts and/or large-sized surface hoar. Of most immediate concern is a crust/surface hoar interface that may become super-reactive with enough new snow load. Reports suggest that the surface hoar exists up to about 1800 m and the crust maybe found on all aspects. I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility of weak interfaces (especially crusts) at higher elevations. Deeper in the snowpack, surface hoar interfaces that were key players in November seem to be inactive. In the highest and shadiest spots, a crust/facet interface may be found near the ground, but is not generally considered a major concern at this time.