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Kootenay Boundary

Kootenay Boundary

Date Issued
Thursday, 11 March 2010 06:00 PM
Valid Until
Sunday, 14 March 2010 06:00 PM
Next Update
Thursday, 18 March 2010 06:00 PM

 

Friday Saturday Sunday
Alpine 4 High 4 High 3 Considerable
At Treeline 4 High 3 Considerable 3 Considerable
Below Treeline 3 Considerable 2 Moderate 2 Moderate

Primary Concerns

Persistent Slab

  • Which Slopes?

    The orange segments show which aspects are most affected by the primary concern. If the icon is completely orange, this means the primary concern exists on all slopes.

  • What Elevation Zone?

    Alpine, Treeline and Below Treeline are separate zones with distinct characteristics. The arrow points to the zones most affected by the primary concern. For more information on elevation zones, click here.

  • When?

    Indicates the time of day where the primary concern is likely to be a problem. Avalanche conditions can change between shady, cool mornings and sunny, warm afternoons. If both icons appear, it means the primary concern is present all day.

Very warm temperatures and lots of sun over the weekend followed by cooling significantly reduced (although not completely eliminated) the potential for triggering avalanches below about 1800m. Caution is still warranted on shaded slopes where no crust exists under Sunday night's snow--most likely the upper reaches of the BTL elevation band on N - E aspects.

Wind Slab

  • Which Slopes?

    The orange segments show which aspects are most affected by the primary concern. If the icon is completely orange, this means the primary concern exists on all slopes.

  • What Elevation Zone?

    Alpine, Treeline and Below Treeline are separate zones with distinct characteristics. The arrow points to the zones most affected by the primary concern. For more information on elevation zones, click here.

  • When?

    Indicates the time of day where the primary concern is likely to be a problem. Avalanche conditions can change between shady, cool mornings and sunny, warm afternoons. If both icons appear, it means the primary concern is present all day.

North and east facing slopes just below ridges and prominent terrain features.

Special Message

The Canadian Avalanche Centre has issued an Avalanche Warning for the Kootenay-Boundary region for this weekend.

We are changing the re-issue dates of our forecasts. From now on we will re-issue and email forecasts for this region on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This will change the days on which you receive information by email. We will continue to update daily so the online forecasts will continue to be your most current source of information.

Confidence: Fair

Weather Forecast

A series of storm are expected to hit the zone.

Friday: 20-30 cm. Strong southwesterly winds. Freezing level near 1200m

Saturday: Snow showers tapering in the morning with sunny breaks in the afternoon.

Avalanche Activity

We are expecting a significant spike in natural avalanche activity Friday and possilby into Saturday. Triggering large avalanches remains a distinct possibility of most slopes and in avalanche prone terrain will be likely.

Travel Advisory

It is about time. Full reset: the Koots get the storm. With it comes a high avalanche danger and tricky conditions in the backcountry.

Terrain: It has been a long time since we've experienced a heavy dump of snow and the snowpack will feel the effects. Most steep slopes will be tetering on sliding. On north and east facing terrain above 1800m surface hoar is an issue and on south and west facing slopes, a poor bond with old sun crusts may be an issue.


Risk Management:  If you are headed to the ski area, do not blindly follow people out of bounds. Know where you are going and carry avalanche safety equipment. Buried surface hoar and wind slabs lurk and may be very difficult to manage, espeically if you don't know terrain like the back of your hand.

Snowpack

Snow will continue to bury old sun crust on south facing slopes and mulitple surface hoar layers on north and east facing terrain above 1800m. Stability tests are continuing to show moderate sudden planar shears on the surface hoar layers, indicative of triggering avalanches. Have a look for yourself, it is pretty wild considering some of these layers are well over a month old.

Prepared by Karl Klassen

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