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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 2nd, 2022–Feb 3rd, 2022

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

Incoming winds will raise the danger over the next couple days.

Weather Forecast

Thurs AM will start cold (-20 to -25), but then temps will warm to more seasonal levels. We are expecting light precip on Thurs with trace to 5 cms depending on the model. Friday will see slightly more precip with an additional 5-10 cms. Saturday will see only a trace amount of snow. Alpine winds will be strong to extreme from the W/NW throughout

Snowpack Summary

15-25 cm of snow on Sunday with moderate to strong W/NW winds have created soft windslabs in the alpine and isolated treeline areas. This sits on a variety of surfaces including sun crusts, faceted snow and isolated areas of surface hoar. The Dec 2 crust/facet layer is down 70-120 cm and has not been reactive in the last week.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed on a field trip on Wednesday in the Emerald Lake area. Local ski hills reporting only small soft windslab development in alpine and isolated treeline areas.

Confidence

Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Problems

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.

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.