Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Pay attention to local winds and the creation of fresh wind slabs.
Weather Forecast
The arctic High dominates the air mass bringing clear and cold conditions for Tuesday. Light flurries begin on Wednesday with 10-20 cm accumulated by Friday. The winds start to pick up on Tuesday with ridge-top values in the 40-60 range.
Snowpack Summary
15-25 cm of low density surface snow with wind effect and some windslabs in the alpine and tree-line. There is 40-60 cm over the Dec 2 rain crust which exists below 2200. This layer will likely become an emerging problem as facetting occurs around the crust. The mid and lower pack is well settled
Snowpack depths at treeline are from 120 to 180 cm.
Avalanche Summary
Two skier triggered avalanches were reported on Sunday. One was a wind-slab near Bow Summit in the alpine (Size 1.5). The other occurred outside the LL ski are boundary on the exit to Purple Bowl. There was no involvement but it was reported as 25m wide by 200m long.
Look for further details on the MIN.
Confidence
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Forecasted strong winds on Monday will likely increase the sensitivity and distribution of wind slabs in alpine and tree line elevations. We expect this avalanche problem to be most prominent on lee features in the alpine.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5