Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
December 03, 2021 - 6:00 AM
Avalanche Canada is warning anyone wanting to head into the backcountry this weekend to be cautious with danger ratings in the low to considerable range.
“Recently, we’ve had very dangerous conditions, each round of the storms embedded in the atmospheric river came through and most of our region saw high or extreme danger warnings as a result,” avalanche forecaster Wendy Lewis said.
The atmosphere river brought strong winds, heavy rain and snow which destabilized the snowpack.
“The storms moving out, and conditions are improving, but the snowpack takes time to get strength and stabilize,” Lewis said. She said it’s difficult to determine how long it would take for the snowpack to strengthen.
The danger rating is currently considerable for the regions around the North Okanagan (North Columbia, South Columbia) and low in the Kootenay-Boundary region east of Kelowna and Penticton.
READ MORE: You may need long underwear and a shovel this weekend in Kamloops, Okanagan
“The cold and clear weather will help but travelling conditions through the backcountry are going to be challenging with heavy rain and refreezing conditions,” Lewis said.
Forecasters are recommending people read and understand the forecast and use caution if they decide to head out, as the risk of danger is expected to increase again with another round of active weather.
“Everywhere through B.C. has elevated danger ratings, but conditions are improving. The Interior regions are the ones seeing the load, and are the ones we’re watching at this point,” Lewis said.
— This story was corrected at 3:12 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. The original story incorrectly said the avalanche danger was high for the weekend.
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