Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

SATURDAY NIGHT - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries / southerly winds, 10-20 km/h / alpine low temperature near -12SUNDAY - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, 5-10 cm / southeast winds 10-25 km/h / alpine high temperature near -12MONDAY - A mix of sun and cloud / northeast winds 10 km/h / alpine high temperature near -16TUESDAY - Mainly sunny / northeast winds, 10-15 km/h / alpine high temperature near -12

Avalanche activity continued on Saturday. Natural avalanches to size 3 and explosives triggered avalanches to size 2 were reported.On Friday a widespread natural avalanche cycle to size 3, as well as numerous human triggered avalanches to size 2 were reported. Some of these failed within the new storm snow, but many of them reportedly failed on a persistent weak layer that was buried in mid January.On Tuesday, in the neighboring Glacier National Park region, a size 3 avalanche was skier triggered on a steep southeast facing slope in the alpine. More details and photos here.

20-70 cm of new snow has fallen in the region since Thursday. The highest amounts fell in the northeast corner of the region: east of the Columbia (Upper Arrow Lake) and north of Trout Lake, with a few exceptions. This new snow sits on wind slab, surface hoar (feathery crystals), facets (sugary snow) and a crust on sun-exposed slopes. A persistent weak layer that was buried in mid January is now buried 40-100cm. This layer consists primarily of surface hoar, however there is also a crust associated with it on sun-exposed slopes. This layer has been most reactive at treeline and below.