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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 14th, 2022–Feb 15th, 2022

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

Regions

Banff Yoho Kootenay.

Stable weather is improving avalanche danger but not the ski quality! Lots of hard surfaces in exposed areas so watch your knees!

Weather Forecast

A relatively benign weather pattern over the next few days. Temps will be in the -5 to -15 range at treeline. Alpine winds will stay light, switching to the NW Monday night and increasing to strong on Thursday. Expect light precip 2-5 cm per day. Possibility of a small upslope storm bringing ~ 5cm to the eastern areas on Tuesday night.

Snowpack Summary

Extensive wind effect in exposed alpine/treeline areas. The Jan 30th surface hoar/ sun crust interface exists 20-30 cm below the surface and hasn't produced avalanches recently. Surface sun crusts on solar slopes into the alpine and a thin temperature crust all aspects below 2100m. Shallow snowpack areas remain weak and faceted.

Avalanche Summary

A skier remote avalanche was reported on Saturday at treeline in KNP.

A cornice released naturally to size 1.5 in the Sunshine backcountry. Otherwise, no new avalanches observed or reported on Monday.

Confidence

The weather pattern is stable

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.