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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 18th, 2021–Mar 19th, 2021

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Poor overnight crust recovery and rain at lower elevations would make for a grim start to your day.

Snow at higher elevations will bury crust and surface hoar. Sluffs could have high consequences.

Watch for small pockets of wind slab at ridge top.

Weather Forecast

Mainly cloudy over the region with snow accumulations of 5-10cm along the Continental Divide (less to the East) over the day Friday and into the evening. Expect periods of rain below the 1900m freezing level with a valley bottom high of +8. Ridge top winds will be 20-60km/hr from the SW. Cooler temps and additional snow into Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

Sun crust on steep solar aspects (East to West) into the Alpine and a temperature crust on all aspects below 1800m. Soft snow still available on high North aspects. Surface hoar up to 10mm has formed in isolated, shaded areas and will become a failure layer for future snow falls. Otherwise the snowpack is relatively strong and well settled.

Avalanche Summary

Several loose wet avalanches hit the Field Back Road over the past 48 hours (The Descent Gully for Guinness)

Lake Louise ski area reported 2 skier controlled wet loose avalanches, sz 1.5 and sz 2.0 late in the afternoon on Thursday in steep, rocky terrain below tree line.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.