6:30 AM Update: New surface instabilities cover a stable snowpack. Look for snow amounts, wind loading, and daytime warming. Treat the danger a step higher if you find 20+ cm of recent snow.
New snow and wind should form small but reactive slabs to manage on Monday. Slab size and distribution will mainly pose a hazard where more than 10 cm of new snow accumulates.
Strong solar radiation will likely trigger wet loose avalanches on steep sunny slopes. Releases for the most part should be small, limited to new snow accumulations.
It's been an increasingly quiet time in the Kootenay Boundary. No avalanches were reported on Friday or Saturday.
On Thursday, several natural and skier triggered wind slabs up to size 1.5 were reported on north/east aspects in the alpine. Natural wet loose avalanches up to size 2 were also reported on steep solar aspects.
If you are heading into the backcountry, post a MIN and let us know what you're seeing!
5 to 10 cm of new snow (closer to 25 cm in hotspots northeast of Nelson) should bury a thin melt-freeze crust now found on solar aspects, or otherwise add to 10 to 25 cm of recent snow, which was affected by moderate west or southwest winds a few days ago. This formed wind slabs on lee aspects at upper elevations and scoured some windward slopes to the crust below. More reactive new slabs should form with forecast weather.
The recent snow sits on a crust from early March that is 5 to 20 cm thick in most locations. It may become thinner at upper elevations.
The mid and lower snowpack is well settled and strong in most areas.
Sunday Night
Diminishing cloud after flurries bring 5 to 10 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind, easing. Treeline temperature falling to -10 °C.
Monday
Sunny. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind, easing. Treeline temperature -7 °C with freezing level to 1300 m.
Tuesday
Sunny with high cloud increasing in the afternoon. 10 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C with freezing level to 1700 m.
Wednesday
A mix of sun and increasing cloud with flurries bringing less than 5 cm of new snow. 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
