Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 25th, 2024–Mar 26th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Lake Louise, West Side 93N, Field.

Start & finish early to enjoy the good conditions! Although cloudy skies are forecasted any prolonged sun exposure may increase avalanche activity with warming.

Travel is generally safer in deeper more uniform snowpack areas. Triggering the mid-pack and basal facet layers is most likely in thin snowpack or thick-to-thin areas.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were observed in this region over the past few days.

Another size 2 remotely triggered from 50 m away in Purple Bowl on a North alpine feature. In the past four days there was a size 2-2.5 slide remotely triggered in the Hector moraines, a size 3 remote in Hidden Bowl, and a size 3 skier accidental on Tent Ridge in Kananaskis Country. All of these occurred in thinner snowpack alpine areas on northerly aspects where the snowpack remains weakest.

Snowpack Summary

Sun crust on steep solar aspects to ridgetop. 10-35 cm of dry snow on polar aspects over the Mar 20 layer with minimal wind effect. The Mar 20 crust is everywhere except north aspects above 1800 m and is helping reduce the sensitivity of the lower snowpack layers.

Our main concern is thin snowpack areas on northerly alpine aspects. This is where the mid-pack Feb 3 facets/crust layer and the basal facets/depth hoar remain weakest. Deeper snowpack areas have few concerns.

Weather Summary

Wednesday: Cloudy skies with flurries for the range with trace accumulations. Light to moderate westerly ridgetop winds. Freezing levels rising to 1700 m.

Click here for more weather info.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.