South Rockies

Avalanche Danger is expected to increase as weather systems roll across the province and add to the developing storm slab. If new snow amounts are greater than 20 cm, consider these danger ratings to be too low.

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

A fast moving Low pressure system is expected to move through the interior mountains overnight bringing moderate precipitation and strong Westerly winds. There should be a brief break between this storm and the next one that is forecast to move onto the West coast early Monday morning. The timing and trajectory of this next system are difficult, but it looks like it might get pushed down into the Southeast corner of the province by Monday night or Tuesday morning. Some of this moisture may still be lingering in the Southeast when a more southerly storm moves across the interior on Tuesday night or early Wednesday. If colder air slides down the East side of the Rockies and collides with the moist Pacific air, there is a chance for enhanced precipitation amounts.

Reports from the Harvey Pass area on Saturday that there were multiple size 1.0 releases of the new storm snow. The storm snow was reported to be touchy, and may be sitting on a layer of facets, surface hoar, and/or crusts left behind after the dry spell earlier in the month. Expect avalanche size to increase as the slab develops.

As we begin our forecasting season we are working with very limited field data. If you have been out in the mountains, please send us a note with your observations to [email protected].The limited field data that we have received suggests that there is not enough snow at and below treeline for avalanche activity. If this is not the case in your area, then you may want to consider the avalanche danger to be similar to the Alpine. The storm slab in the alpine may be sitting on a weak layer of facetted snow, surface hoar, and/or a wind or sun crust that developed earlier in the month. This storm slab has been touchy to human triggers, and is expected to continue to develop with the forecast snow and wind.We are interested in snow depths at different elevations, spatial extent of the crust/facet weak layer, and new snow/ storm snow amounts. Avalanche danger may rise quickly if new snow amounts are greater than 20 cm per day.