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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 13th, 2014–Mar 14th, 2014

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Conditions are still tricky out there. The snowpack needs to adjust to its new load. Danger ratings may be lower in deeper snowpack areas where the recent snow fell on a stronger snowpack

Weather Forecast

Expect light precip on Friday with moderate to strong W alpine winds. Saturday will be a short break before the bulk of the storm arrives. Forecasts are showing 30-40 cm Sat PM and into Sunday. Freezing levels will rise to ~1700m during the day and drop to valley bottom at night throughout the period.

Snowpack Summary

Strong west winds have created widespread wind effect in the ALP and at TL. 10-15 cm of new snow (north) and 2-5 (south) lies on top of a 3-5 cm thick sun crust on solar aspects and dry snow on polar aspects. Below 1500m a rain crust exists. The Feb. 10th layer is down 50-110 and is reactive with large whumphs and sudden collapse results today

Avalanche Summary

A sizable cornice released on the south face of Mt. Bourgeau today which didn't pull a slab on the slope below. Solar aspects have been warming up and we've seen loose wet avalanches out of steep rocky terrain, but the winds have kept things generally cool. Conditions remain touchy and we are still only just coming out of a major avalanche cycle

Confidence

Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Sunday

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.

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.