Regions
Kootenay Boundary.
Stick to shady terrain. Wet loose avalanches are most likely on sun-exposed slopes.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
FRIDAY: Alpine sun with valley clouds, moderate northwest wind, freezing level around 3000 m with inversions in the valleys.SATURDAY: Alpine sun with valley clouds, moderate west wind, freezing level around 2800 m with inversions in the valleys.SUNDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, moderate west wind, freezing level rising to 3200 m.
Avalanche Summary
On Thursday, several small wet loose avalanches (size 1-1.5) were reported on steep south facing slopes. More wet loose activity can be expected with the sustained warming this week.
Snowpack Summary
Dramatic warming will cause widespread melting of the surface snow, especially on south-facing slopes. Crusts may form overnight, but will melt quickly in the mornings. The warm weather has settled the snowpack and likely improved the bond to the 30-50 cm deep rain crust from late November. Some wind affected snow exists at higher elevations, and could potentially still be reactive above this crust.
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.