New snow continues to build touchy storm slabs.
In some areas, deeper layers in the upper snowpack might be at play.
Observations from the Shuswap area suggest a buried crust/facet layer in the upper snowpack may be reaching a tipping point. We are uncertain how prevalent this problem is through the region.
Snow continues to accumulate over a layer of large surface hoar crystals, making for a poor bond. An underlying crust makes for a slippery bed surface for avalanches to run on.
On Saturday there were numerous reports of storm slab and loose dry avalanches running in the new snow, size 1 to 1.5.
This slab avalanche was reported from Crowfoot riding area west of Sicamous on Saturday. Based on the depth of the crown, we suspect it ran one of the buried crust layers in the upper snowpack. This is a great example of how just a single photo can make a super helpful MIN report. Please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network!
New snow over the day will bring recent storm totals to 15 to 30 cm. The recent snow sits over a layer of large surface hoar crystals on a crust, and is expected to bond poorly.
Observations from the Shuswap area have raised suspicions over a couple of crust/facet layers in the top 40 cm of the snowpack. They were buried in late January and early February and are prevalent throughout the region, but have not raised concerns in other areas of the region... yet. It's possible the layers may be reaching a tipping point as they are buried deeper.
The remainder of the snowpack is dense and well bonded, containing many more crusts which are not of concern at this time.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy. 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Monday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 12 cm of snow, with highest amounts near Rossland. 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 4 cm of snow. 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
