Avalanche forecast

Banff Yoho Kootenay

Apr 9 – 10, 2018Parks Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Open full map

Highlights

Start early to take advantage of good travel conditions and cool temperatures on Tuesday morning. We expect the hazard will rise later in the day as things warm up and the precipitation arrives.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Recent new snow and moderate West winds have created wind slabs in immediate lees areas of the alpine that can be triggered by skiers in some locations. This problem may increase later in the day on Tuesday as more snow arrives.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2.5
    Dig down to find and test the bond of the surface snow with the Mar 15 crust down 25-50 cm on steep solar aspects, bearing in mind that the bond can vary significantly with subtle changes in slope aspect, steepness or warming temperatures.

Weather Forecast

Tuesday will start out as a mix of sun and cloud with below freezing temperatures overnight helping with travel conditions. Some precipitation is expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon with up to 5-10 cm accompanied by strong West winds and freezing levels up to 2300m. Cooler temps and slightly drier conditions with some cloud is expected Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate west winds over the past 24 hrs have created wind effect in open areas, and wind slabs in lee areas in the alpine, On solar aspects the March 15 sun crust is down 25-50 cm and has been sensitive to skier triggering over the last week. A temperature crust is present on all aspects below 2000m and higher on solar aspects.

Avalanche Summary

Some loose dry sluffing in the alpine due to strong wind gusts on Monday, as well as thin touchy wind slabs in immediate lee areas at local ski hills. Explosive control at Sunshine produced one size 2 wind slab. On Sunday a size 2 wind slab was observed on a NE aspect at 2600m near Lake Louise and some loose wet sluffing out of steep solar terrain.

Confidence

Timing of incoming weather systems is uncertain on Thursday

Regions covered