South Columbia

Conditions are primed for people triggering avalanches. Stick to simple terrain until the fresh snow has a chance to settle and strengthen.

High -

FRIDAY: Cloudy with flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of fresh snow, moderate to strong southwesterly winds, and freezing levels around 1400 m.SATURDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, moderate westerly winds, and freezing levels around 1400 m.SUNDAY: A mix of sun and cloud, light but gusty southwesterly winds, and freezing levels around 1500 m.

Reports from Wednesday include several skier-controlled wind and storm slab avalanches up to Size 1.5. Loading from snow and wind is expected to result in natural avalanche activity on Thursday and these storm and wind slabs are expected to remain sensitive to light triggers.

15-25cm of fresh snow, accompanied by moderate winds, adds to the 40-90 cm from the past few days, with the highest amounts near the crest of the Selkirks in the western part of the region. This recent storm snow has settled into a slab, especially where it has been wind-loaded or warmed by the sun, which is bonding poorly to the previous snow surface that includes sun crust on steep sun-exposed slopes, faceted snow, as well as surface hoar on sheltered open slopes. Weaknesses are also lingering within the recent storm snow, with several easy to moderate shears being reported. A persistent weakness buried mid January is now down 50-120 cm and consists of buried surface hoar in sheltered areas, sun crust on south aspects, and/or widespread faceted old snow. It has generally stabilized but may be sensitive to triggering in isolated areas where buried surface hoar is preserved. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled and stable.