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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 8th, 2012–Nov 9th, 2012

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Weather Forecast

Temperatures will continue to drop tonight to 15C for tomorrow's high and -20C friday night.  Winds should be light Easterly. Expect a few flurries along the divide tonight.  Sunny skies forecasted for Saturday, but still -15C.

Snowpack Summary

Snowpack depths range from 50 cm (Bow Summit) to 80 cm along & west of the divide.  The midpack Nov 6 rain crust is about 5 cm thick with 20-40 cm of llight snow on top..  Except for isolated wind affected features, there is a good bond to this layer.

Avalanche Summary

Only a few isolated hard slabs (40 cm thick) have been found to be reactive to ski cutting on the rain crust on alpine South aspects in the Lake Louise area.  No new avalanches have been observed, but the visibility was poor today. 

Confidence

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

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.