Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Apr 8 – 9, 2018Parks Canada
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Be watchful for wind slabs in immediate lee areas at high elevations. Depending on local new snow amounts and wind velocity the slabs could be touchy with wide propagations.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Recent new snow and wind have created new soft wind slabs in immediate lees in the alpine.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2.5
    Dig down to test the bond to the Mar 15 crust, bearing in mind that the bond can vary significantly with subtle changes in slope aspect and steepness. Forecasters suspect this problem is developing with faceting on the crust due to recent cold temps.

Weather Forecast

The weather is slowly transitioning to a diurnal cycle from the unseasonably cool spring temperatures. Expect above zero temps in the valleys bottoms (~5 degrees) during the warmest parts of the upcoming days. Monday will bring cloudy skies and very light accumulations of snow (~4cm). Wind will pick up to the moderate range from the W-SW.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 15cm in the past 24 hours that has been redistributed by moderate wind from the SW has produced wind slabs in lee areas in the alpine. The March 15 suncrust is down 30-50cm on south-east through west aspects and has been sensitive to skier triggering over the last few days. No major concerns exist below the Mar 15 crust at this time.

Avalanche Summary

A size 2 windslab was observed on a NE aspect at 2600m near Lake Louise today. No other avalanches were observed or reported.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations on Sunday

Regions covered