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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 11th, 2022–Jan 12th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Strong winds moved a lot of snow around today and has created widespread wind effect in all open areas. It feels like it would be easy to trigger a windslab on a loaded slope, so give leeward areas a lot of room over the next few days.

Weather Forecast

A strong westerly flow is established over BC and AB, delivering warm, moist air across the region combined with strong winds. This pattern is forecast to continue through Wednesday, with another 5-10 cm and strong winds expected. Thursday looks to warm up even further before clearing and cooling on Friday.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of new snow combined with strong SW winds transporting snow is creating windslabs down into the treeline. These slabs are sitting on facets, today showed a moderate test results and could be easily skier triggered. The Dec 2 crust/facet interface is down 60-100 cm, and remains a concern below treeline in the Kootenay area.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed or reported on Tuesday, but several avalanches reported by the Lake Louise ski hill on Monday.

Confidence

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.