Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Side 93N, Little Yoho, West Side 93N.
Areas near Bow Summit on 93N have already received 20cm of new storm snow. More snow is expected overnight into Wednesday. The danger rating is going to HIGH. Avoid avalanche terrain.
Confidence
Low
Avalanche Summary
Parks Canada forecasters triggered a fresh size 1 wind slab on Dolomite shoulder today 60 to 80cm deep. Sunshine patrol also triggered 2 size 1 wind slabs. Forecasters anticipate that avalanche activity will increase on Wednesday due to incoming snow Tuesday overnight.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 20cm of new snow has fallen on 93N as of Tues afternoon, much less in the rest of the forecast area. There are reactive wind slabs in lee alpine areas. The upper snowpack has several crusts and weak interfaces from January down 25-70cm. The Nov 16 deep persistent facet layer is down 40-110 cm and continues to produce sudden test results.
Weather Summary
Cooling temperatures with the ridge being around -15 and the valley about -6 on Wednesday. Incoming snowfall will vary across the region with more accumulating in the north (up to 20cm). Wind will remain elevated and not come below 40km/hr from the SW. Winds will peak at roughly 80km/hr from the SW early morning hours on Wednesday.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Small amounts of new snow with more snow Tuesday night combined with South Westerly wind will form fresh windslabs in lee areas. Wind slab depth will be highly variable on Wednesday due to different snow fall amounts overnight.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Deep Persistent Slabs
The lower snowpack consists of weak facets and depth hoar with the upper snowpack forming a 50 to 120 cm thick slab above this weakness. Recent storms will add snow load and potentially increase the likelihood of triggering.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3
Loose Dry
Low density snow (20+cm) has fallen near bow summit on Tuesday. More snow is expected Tuesday night. Small loose dry avalanches are to be expected until the storm has a chance to settle.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5