Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 31st, 2023–Apr 1st, 2023

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

Regions

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

Some light snow and cloudy conditions should minimize any solar effects over the weekend. The snowpack is still not great for this time of year, with basal facets and depth hoar the main cause for concern. Moderate danger ratings are often misunderstood. The potential for deep persistent, large avalanches is possible which should factor into your terrain choices.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported or observed today with minimal solar heating.

Snowpack Summary

Surface crusts exist to ridgetop on solar aspects. On polar aspects, 10-25cm of storm snow sits over a facetted interface from March 25th and buried temperature crusts below 1500 m. The lower snowpack remains weaker, with depth hoar producing sudden test failures in various locations.

Weather Summary

Saturday: Increasing SW winds 30-40 kmh and trace to 5cm over the day. Freezing levels will rise to 1400-1600m in the afternoon.

Sunday: A few more cm of snow during the day with winds shifting to light from the E/NE in the afternoon. Another 5-10cm is possible Sunday evening along the East slopes.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.