Photo: Avalanche Canada

While winter storm warnings remain in effect across many of the highway mountain passes, Avalanche Canada is reminding outdoor enthusiasts of the increased avalanche danger as a result of the rain combined with snow

"Where we have a persistent slab problem right now. We’re expecting these weak layers to remain easily triggered and new snow will add the potential for larger and more destructive avalanches," says a tweet from Avalanche Canada.

Environment Canada says snowfall in parts of the Interior could reach 40 centimetres and may combine with strong wind gusts to reduce visibility to near zero, and officials are recommending against all non-essential travel on mountain passes until conditions improve Thursday.

Sympathetic and remote triggered avalanches are signs of a very unstable snowpack, and there are too many of them in this video for us to count! It was filmed in the NW coast area, but these conditions can be found in almost all the regions (1/3)
?: Great Bear Heli Skiing pic.twitter.com/LY9momowsR

— Avalanche Canada (@avalancheca) February 28, 2024

According to Avalanche Canada, the danger rating in the Monashee Mountains is already high and will remain high into the weekend.

"Right now in most areas, it's at a prime depth for human triggering, that combined with the significant amounts of new snow that we've gotten throughout most of the province," says Tyson Rettie with Avalanche Canada.

"With that setup, and all the snow that's fallen, (the) danger ratings will likely be considerable in many of our forecast areas."

A group of snowmobilers near Revelstoke were caught in an avalanche on Monday. One of the riders was found buried in an upright position, unconscious. Quick work from a passing guide managed to help save the snowmobiler.

Another person lost their life after being caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling on Feb. 24, near the Castle Mountain Resort on the Alberta side of the Rocky Mountains when a slide occurred last weekend.