Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Nov 29 – 30, 2019Parks Canada
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Archived · expired 7 years ago

Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

Heading out with the mind set of  "LOW means GO" may lead you into terrain where triggering a small avalanche has severe consequence. Understand that small avalanches in isolated areas and extreme terrain can still occur.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Widespread wind effect in the alpine is clearly visible throughout the forecast region. The potential to trigger this problem still exist in steep lee ward terrain.

Weather Forecast

Cold calm and clear is the trend till the end of the weekend. Expect lows dropping close to -30.

Snowpack Summary

Cold temps are beginning to facet the snowpack. Wide spread wind effect from last weekend is still visibly through the alpine. The Nov 8 crust is down 20-30 cm and present up to ~2400 m. The lower snowpack is a mix of weak facets & crusts. Snowpack depths at treeline vary from 60-90 cm with up to 140 cm in lee areas.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches observed Thursday. Wind slabs have been the primary concern in the snowpack over the past week with several releases to size 1.5 triggered both with explosive and skier traffic.

Confidence

Regions covered