Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Extreme winds have redistributed snow into immediate lee windslabs in the alpine. Be cautious entering large exposed slopes in the alpine.
Weather Forecast
Calm, cool conditions will persist through Thursday and Friday as a ridge of high pressure builds across the Alberta rockies.
Snowpack Summary
Strong to extreme winds overnight redistributed 10cm of snow into immediate lee windslabs. Jan 11th interface down 20-35 cm producing mod to hard results. Dec 25th, 13th and 7th layers down 50-120 cm and generally produce hard or no results. A rain crust exists on surface below 1500 m in eastern areas.
Avalanche Summary
A few size 1-2 windslab avalanches were observed in yoho region today, these were concentrated in the Alpine.
Confidence
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Strong to Extreme winds redistributed 10cm of snow into immediate lee windslabs. Treat lee loaded areas with extra caution especially if entering large steep terrain features.
- Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline. Recent storm snow has formed wind slabs.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
Several persistent weak layers are present in the top meter of the snowpack. Generally, they are not reactive to skier traffic but we still get occasional reports of avalanches on one of the layers, usually on steep convex rolls or in thin areas.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Treeline, Below Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5