Fraser Valley/BC – Avalanche Canada has issued a Special Public Avalanche Warning for Mountains Across Southern BC and Alberta, Effective until Sunday December 27.
Even with travel warnings from the Provincial Health Officer, obviously there will be some who will venture into the back country.
The warning is widespread and applies to the following forecast regions:
- Kootenay-Boundary
- South Columbia
- North Columbia
- Purcells
- Cariboos
- North Rockies
- South Rockies
- Lizard Range-Flathead
- Banff National Park
- Yoho National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Waterton Lakes National Park
- Kananaskis Country
For a map of the regions involved, click here.
The snowpack is currently in a precarious state throughout these regions due to the presence of a critical weak layer 60–100 cm below the snow surface. The storms that blew through western Canada over the past week added sufficient snow above the weak layer to bring the snowpack to a tipping point where large avalanches can be easily triggered by people on snowshoes, skis, or snowmobile.
