Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Feb 24th, 2019 4:00PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs and Loose Dry.

aaron beardmore, Parks Canada

Little Yoho.

Little change has occurred or is expected to for the next few days. Manage terrain decisions while considering windslabs and dry loose avalanches in steep terrain.

Summary

Weather Forecast

The forecast indicates that very cold temperatures will persist Monday and Tuesday, with a slight warming trend on Wednesday to near zero in the valley bottoms. Clear skies with nil precipitation are also expected through the same period. The wind will increase to the strong range from the East early Tuesday.

Snowpack Summary

20 to 40 cm has accumulated since Feb 1 along with isolated crusts on steep solar slopes and wind effect treeline and above. In isolated areas at treeline and below the Jan 17 surface hoar can be found down 30-60 cm, and is producing hard but sudden test results. Weak basal facets can be found in thinner snow pack areas.

Avalanche Summary

No windslabs reported or observed today but they still linger. Skier triggered loose dry sluffing of the surface facets has also been observed in steep terrain at all elevations up to size 1.

Confidence

Due to the quality of field observations on Sunday

Problems

Wind Slabs

A mix of new wind slabs and old buried slabs have been found on various aspects that continue to be worth watching for in steep terrain. While these are more isolated and of smaller size at treeline they still warrant careful terrain selection.

Variable winds may create pockets of wind slab in some unexpected locations.Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Unlikely

Expected Size

1 - 2

Loose Dry

A sustained period of cold weather has created weak, dry, faceted surface snow. In steep terrain, these facets are sensitive to small natural and human triggers and can quickly gain enough mass to affect skiers and climbers, especially in gullies.

Good group management is essential to manage current conditions safely.Avoid terrain traps, such as gullies, where the consequences of a small avalanche could be serious.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: All elevations.

Likelihood

Likely

Expected Size

1 - 1.5

Valid until: Feb 25th, 2019 4:00PM