Kootenay Boundary

Fair - Due to limited field observations

The ridge that has dominated the regions weather for the last week begins to break down on Saturday allowing a pacific front into the forecast area. The result will be high clouds and increased winds out of the SW clocking in between 40 and 70 km/h. Little or no precipitation is forecasted out of this system but the good news is that the door is once again open for storms to track across southern BC. Temperatures on Saturday remain within seasonal norms: @ 1500m we can expect day time high's around -3 with overnight lows sinking to -9.

No recent avalanche activity has been reported. If you have any avalanche observations to report, please email us at: [email protected].

Great observations continue to come our way. Cold clear nights are generating surface hoar growth in the region & while not a concern right now, it will be interesting to see what happens before the next storm. Will the surface hoar persevere or be wiped out by pre-frontal winds? It could get lively out there when we turn the faucet back on next week.There are a few players in the snowpack, but it's pretty quiet at the moment. I feel like we need a fresh load (new snow) before we'll see any significant avalanche activity.Getting into the snowpack, a rain crust is present just under the snow surface below 1800m. Digging reveals a pretty well organized snowpack. A bit of soft fist snow can be found in upper elevations with a good tight midpack consisting of more dense snow below. The alpine is holding 150-200 cm. Treeline depths are between 50 -150 cm. Recent snowpack observations indicate that the late October rain crust is present in the alpine elevations and down approximately 120cm. This crust is said to be up to 5mm in thickness with faceting below it. For the moment the crust seems to be bridging over the facets below, with a well settled 1F - P midpack above. If you're out & about please drop me a line & let me know what you're seeing: [email protected]