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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 5th, 2015–Feb 6th, 2015

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

Regions

Little Yoho.

We expect a natural avalanche cycle to start Friday continuing through to Saturday night. Avoid avalanche terrain as conditions will change rapidly Friday. Excellent powder skiing in lower elevation areas out of the wind. SH

Weather Forecast

50+cm is currently forecast at treeline in the Little Yoho region by Saturday night. Temperatures will go above freezing at valley bottom and we may see rain below treeline at some point. Alpine winds are forecast to be in the strong range over this period.

Snowpack Summary

50cm of recent storm snow sits on the Jan 30 interface(consists of a 1-2cm ice crust up to 1800m). Test results today at 1500 and 1900m on Mt. Field found inconsistent shears on that interface. Over the next 2 days, as the next storm continues to add load, this bond to the Jan 30 interface and within the storm snow will be critical.

Avalanche Summary

Sunshine village was reporting skier controlled storm slabs to size 1 in open alpine regions. These were running on the Jan 30 interface. No avalanches were observed in the Mt. Field area, only sloughing in steep (40+ degree) ski terrain.

Confidence

on Friday

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.