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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 11th, 2021–Mar 12th, 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 possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Friday should start with a good freeze but hazard will increase as the day warms up. Our danger ratings are for the highest level we expect to see over the course of the day, but these van vary wildly this time of year.

Weather Forecast

Continued nice weather on Friday. We should see a decent overnight freeze with 3000m temperatures reaching -5 and valley bottoms up to +5. Winds will be moderate to strong at 3000m and light at treeline. A significant warmup with high solar input is expected Saturday and Sunday.

Snowpack Summary

10-20cm recent snow lies over firm surface crust on south aspects up to at least 2600 m and settled snow on north aspects. Some recent wind effect at higher elevations that seems limited to ridge crests. Recent profiles show the Feb. 19 and Jan. 27 facets in the upper meter with hard to no results. Cornices are huge.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches reported today with good visibility. Some heavy sluffing in alpine gullies was observed on Wednesday during a short/brief storm in the high alpine. Some recent several large persistent slabs were reported in high north aspects and we assume these were triggered by large cornice falls.

Confidence

Freezing levels are uncertain on Sunday

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.

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.