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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 31st, 2024–Jan 1st, 2025

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 unlikely, human triggered possible.
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.

Conditions are good, with continuing small amounts of new snow totalling 10-15 of low-density fluff on the surface, with cool temperatures and no wind effect. Ice climbers can expect sluffing and spindrift and riders can expect soft snow. The deep snowpack remains weak, however, so continue to avoid steep, wind-loaded features.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Lake Louise patrol saw only small, dry loose avalanches and thin windslabs in alpine terrain and the Sunshine team did not observe any new avalanches with no avalanche control done on Tuesday.

Snowpack Summary

It all adds up: a few cm here and a few cm there, and now there is 10-15 cm of low-density snow on the surface, barely touched by the wind. However, this new snow overlies a 60-80 cm snowpack that is entirely faceted, with weak, facet/crust interfaces near the ground. This situation is not expected to change in the short-term, unless the wind comes up, in which case windslabs will form rapidly.

Weather Summary

Generally stable weather is forecast for the next few days, as a weak ridge of high pressure exits the region resulting in overcast skies, cool temperatures and light, but continuous snow in the west. Expect 5-10 cm of new snow, temperatures in the -5 to -12 range and SW winds ranging from light to moderate (20-30 km/hr). Looking ahead towards the weekend, temperatures will dip below -20.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.

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.