Avalanche Forecast
Kootenay Boundary
Danger will increase as incoming snow and wind forms fresh slabs. Snowfall amounts for Thursday are uncertain, so be prepared to dial back your terrain selection if there's rapid loading.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Minimize exposure during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
- Be cautious of sluffing in steep terrain.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Weak layers exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including surface hoar on north-facing terrain and sun crusts on south-facing terrain. These layers may become reactive with the weight of new snow and warming.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Be cautious on convex rolls at and below treeline where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
- Avoid convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
- Minimize exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, large avalanches may reach run out zones.
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, a size 1 wind slab was skier-triggered on a south aspect at 2200 m and nearby explosive control produced a size 2 wind slab. No other notable activity was reported.
The most recent report of a persistent slab avalanche was on Sunday, when a skier accidentally triggered a large avalanche on a north treeline slope in the Rossland area (see details here). The avalanche failed on a surface hoar layer 80 cm below the surface. Looking ahead, persistent weak layers could be stressed by the weight of the new snow or by the warming that will follow the storm.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 20 cm of new snow could accumulate by Thursday afternoon, with even deeper deposits possible at higher elevations. The new snow is falling on mostly unconsolidated snow from last week's storm and possibly on a sun crust on south-facing slopes.
A mix of interfaces exist 50-100 cm below the surface, including small surface hoar on polar aspects and a crust on solar aspects. These layers have consistently been reactive in snowpack tests, suggesting they could potentially remain reactive to human triggers as well.
Deeper weak layers that formed in January and December have gained strength and gone dormant at this time. They include several surface hoar and facet layers 1 to 2 m below the surface and a crust/ facet interface near the base of the snowpack.
Weather Forecast
THURSDAY: Flurries increasing throughout the day with 10-20 cm of snow possible by the afternoon, strong southwest wind, freezing level rising to around 1500 m.
FRIDAY: Flurries continue over Thursday night and into Friday and bring another 10-20 cm of snow, clearing in the afternoon, strong southwest wind easing throughout the day, freezing level rising to around 1200 m.
SATURDAY: Sunny, light wind, freezing level rising to around 1500 m.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Kootenay Boundary URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/kootenay-boundary.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
Fresh storm slabs will form as snow accumulates on Thursday and Friday. They will be most reactive at higher elevations and in lee terrain.