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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 27th, 2023–Nov 28th, 2023

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay, Little Yoho, Banff, East Side 93N, Kootenay, Lake Louise, LLSA, Sunshine, West Side 93N, Field.

Watch for warm temps and possible wind-loading at ridgetops. Be especially careful of venturing into deeper snowpack or wind-loaded pockets where denser snow sits over a weak base.

The snowpack remains very thin for this time of the year and Early Season Conditions persist.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported or observed on Monday.

A size 2 natural avalanche occurred recently on Unity Peak near Lake Louise, likely failing on the facet/crust combination at the base of the snowpack.

Snowpack Summary

Last week's storm snow has settled to 10-15 cm in eastern areas and only a trace out west, and has been redistributed in exposed areas by strong west winds. This overlies a previously wind-scoured snowpack with a thin suncrust on south and west aspects. The bottom of the snowpack consists of weak basal facets and a spotty melt-freeze crust from late October.

The snowpack is 30-50 cm deep at treeline with many areas still below threshold, and up to 90 cm in deeper alpine areas.

Weather Summary

Mainly sunny skies are expected on Tuesday with moderate to strong west ridgetop winds. A slight temperature inversion is possible with alpine highs from -5°C to -3°C and treeline temperatures around -6°C.

For more weather forecast details, click here.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.

Problems

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.