Avalanche Forecast
Kootenay Boundary
New snow amounts could be highly variable into Monday. If you see more than 30cm of new snow (especially if it sits on a firm crust) the danger is HIGH and it's best to avoid all avalanche terrain.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Check for how the new snow is bonding to the old surface below.
- Watch for areas with heavy snow fall accumulations... and be prepared to dial back terrain use.
- Minimize exposure during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.
Avalanche Summary
On Friday, cornice control work resulted in triggering a size 2 wind slab below, on an east aspect near 2200m. Slab depth averaged 20cm.
Snowpack Summary
Warm temperatures and sun over the long weekend resulted in moist snow on sunny aspects, and firm crusts when the surface froze overnight.
30-60 cm of snow from last week sits on a crust at all elevations on solar aspects and all aspects below 1900 m elevation. Winds were moderate to strong from the north west on Wednesday (switching to southwest by Friday), creating fresh wind slabs on down wind (lee) aspects at higher elevations.
On northerly aspects at and above tree line the old storm snow is burying a mix of large surface hoar and surface facets. Another weak layer buried mid March is down 50 to 80cm and is a crust on solar aspects and surface hoar (to 6mm) on high elevation north. The surface hoar is still giving sudden collapse test results.
A few other persistent weak layers are buried in the mid and lower snowpack, but they have gone dormant and are unlikely to resurface until we move into a period with consecutive above-freezing nights.
Weather Forecast
Forecast amounts of new snow are uncertain on Sunday into Monday. Local amounts of new snow may be highly variable, with the north of the region possibly seeing areas with 20-35cm accumulation into Monday.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Some areas may see localized very heavy snowfall (20-35cm possible), where neighbouring areas may see only 5-10 cm, if that.
MONDAY: Cloudy with some lingering flurries ending near noon (5-10cm) / Light northerly wind / Alpine temperature -8 / Freezing level 900m
TUESDAY: A mix of sun and cloud / Light to moderate west wind / Alpine temperature -6 / Freezing level 1200m
WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with some flurries (5-10 cm during the day) / Light to moderate south west wind / Alpine temperature -4 / Freezing level 1300m
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.
Extra caution is advised where heavy snowfall sits on a firm melt-freeze crust... a perfect sliding layer for slab avalanches.