Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Banff Yoho Kootenay.
The deep freeze is not going away any time soon.
Being prepared to stay warm will be key to insure your personal safety, as even a minor injury can become very serious in these temperatures.
Weather Forecast
The Arctic air mass continues to bring cold temperatures to the region. Day time high temps will be near -25 C at valley bottom with the evening lows dropping below -30 C. A slight inversion may be present above treeline. A clearing trend will begin Monday as a ridge of high pressure forms over the region.
Snowpack Summary
10-40 cm of snow over the last few days with S-SW winds have developed wind slabs at treeline and above. There is 50-70 cm over the Dec 2 crust/facet combo which exists below 2200m...this has not been an active problem yet but we are monitoring it closely. Shallow areas (<100 cm) may still have weak basal facets and a DPS issue near the ground.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche activity was reported Sunday with limited observations.
Confidence
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Recent snow and previous S-SW winds have created wind slabs at treeline and above. These are slowly becoming more difficult to trigger but can still be triggered by skiers/boarders in the right spot.
- Watch for surface cracking and stiffer surface layers of snow. Avoid wind loaded terrain.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 2