A special avalanche warning is in effect until Monday for Interior BC Ranges.
“We’ve been slowly creeping up here,” says Avalanche Canada senior forecaster Mark Bender.
“Quite a lot of snow even in the last month. In many locations, the snowpack has doubled in the last 4 weeks and there are several deeply buried weak layers in the snowpack.”
The avalanche warning applies to the Cariboos, Lizard Range & Flathead, South Rockies, Purcells, Kootenay Boundary, South & North Columbia, and North Rockies.
“With the long weekend people end up wanting to explore a lot more,” Bender adds.
“What we want to do is just get the message out that the conditions are quite tricky and avalanches could run bigger than we would normally see them.”
The potential high hazard for an avalanche is also affecting Highway 26 with Drive BC reporting it closed in both directions from Barkerville to Bowron Lake Road.
Avalanche Canada according to Bender have recorded snowfall accumulations of up to 400 cm in some places of the BC’s Interior.
“That much snow in a short amount of time, I just think we have reached a critical point here,” he says.
“The snow amounts have overloaded those weak layers.”