Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 5th, 2017 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Persistent Slabs and Storm Slabs.
aaron beardmore,
Avalanche Canada
By Monday morning we expect up to 20cm of snow in the forecast region. Ice climbers should consider routes with no overhead hazard until the storm snow has a chance to settle.
Summary
Weather Forecast
Small amounts of precip and cold temperatures are expected overnight Sunday and throughout Monday. Wind will be variable in direction and remain in the light to moderate range.
Snowpack Summary
Little Yoho has received between 10 and 30cm of storm snow. This sits on previous hard surfaces from winds last weekend. A generally weak snowpack exists below 2000m. At 2000m there is about 150cm with the Jan 17 surface hoar layer down 40cm. Deeper snowpack areas closer to the Wapta have a much more solid snowpack.
Avalanche Summary
One size 1 avalanche was observed in the Dennis 1 slide path above the Field Back-road today.
Confidence
Problems
Persistent Slabs
The generally weak, facetted mid pack is producing moderate to hard shears. In the upper snowpack around treeline a buried layer of surface hoar produces variable shears. Current slab development will make triggering these layers more likely.
- Use conservative route selection, choose moderate angled and supported terrain with low consequence.
- Dig down to find and test weak layers before committing to a line.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Storm Slabs
Currently small in size, watch locally for their formation and the bed surface below. This can be facets, wind layers, surface hoar, or sun crust. Watch for reverse loading where east winds are present.
- Keep an eye out for reverse loading created by an upslope storm.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 6th, 2017 4:00PM
