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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 8th, 2018–Apr 9th, 2018

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

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.

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

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.