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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 8th, 2016–Apr 9th, 2016

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Little Yoho.

Heating over the last two days has added a lot of heat to the snowpack. Expect crusts to break down quickly at lower elevations despite the cooler temperatures that are forecast. Spring Conditions !

Weather Forecast

Following the hot and sunny conditions Thursday and Friday, passage of a cold front late Friday promises to bring cooler temperatures for Saturday with freezing levels peaking at around 2200m through Sunday. Watch for sunny periods to bring heating on both days with a bit more clearing likely on Sunday. 

Snowpack Summary

We are into a spring cycle for most of the Little Yoho area except in the high alpine. Dry snow was seen above 2200m on N aspects on Thursday before the warmer temperatures on Friday. Occasional pockets of deep instability may still be encountered and triggered from warm or shallow locations.

Avalanche Summary

A cycle of loose wet avalanches likely occurred with the reasonably strong heating Friday mainly on South and Western aspects.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.