Avalanche Forecast

Good

Synopsis: Stable pattern under a ridge of high pressure expected to continue. In other words, little change.Overnight and Monday: Dry, light westerly winds, solid overnight freeze (-10 to -15 C) with daytime warming (around -5 in alpine). Monday freezing level rising to near 1300 m but above freezing temperatures likely to go higher on slopes facing the sun.Tuesday: essentially a nearly identical forecast to Monday except a couple of degrees warmer.Wednesday: some high cloud drifting in. Tuesday night may stay warmer limiting the overnight freeze and crust recovery at treeline elevations and lower.

Loose wet solar triggered avalanches reported on southerly aspects. Failing cornices are common. Most didn't trigger additional slab avalanches although a few did, including a size 4 just north of the region (likely involving the March 10 surface hoar/crust interface).A fatal snowmobile triggered size 3 avalanche was reported in the southern Purcell mountains. No details are available at this time.

Moist snow may be found on solar aspects up to about 2200 metres. New melt/freeze crusts are developing due to cold clear nights and strong solar radiation during the day. The recent storm amounts are between 40-80 cms at higher elevations. Strong winds overnight and early Wednesday morning developed thick pockets of wind slab at higher elevations. Cooling temperatures have promoted bonding to the moist snowpack at lower elevations. New cornice growth is reported to be extensive and weak. Expect natural cornice falls that may trigger weak layers that are buried down a metre or more on slopes below. The new storm load may trigger the March 10th weak surface hoar layer.