Avalanche Forecast
Regions: North Okanagan, Shuswap, South Okanagan.
Cooling temperatures are reducing the likelihood of triggering large persistent slab avalanches.
Avoid steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin-to-thick snowpack.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday, but data is very limited in this region.
If you go out into the backcountry, please consider posting your observations on the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
0 to 5 cm of new snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces.
A widespread, hard crust down 40 - 130 cm with weak facets above continues to be the primary layer of concern for human triggering of very large persistent slab avalanches.
Weather Summary
Thursday night
Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1100 m.
Friday
Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h variable directions ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.
Saturday
Cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.
Sunday
Sunny. 20 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
- Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
- Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
- Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Persistent Slabs
A crust with weak facets above is down 40 to 130 cm. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the most likely places to trigger this layer.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3